This popular quote about quitting poses grave danger to the success and happiness of entrepreneurs:

“A quitter never wins and a winner never quits.”
― Napoleon Hill

I prefer this more useful quote:

“Quitters never win, winners never quit, but those who never win AND never quit are idiots.“

If you’re not winning, it’s time to look at why and change things up.  How can you objectively even know if you’re winning and what does quitting look like and what are the benefits?

There’s a stigma to quitting because people who quit are looked down on like they have failed. Entrepreneurs are told you must always hustle and have grit and work through the Trough of Disillusionment.

However, it’s not always the case. In many cases it may be the best thing. In Silicon Valley it’s often referred to a pivoting. As a result, many startups have quit what wasn’t working and moved to something that eventually became much more successful. Above all, they are able to have a much better quality of life because they gave themselves a better chance at success.

Thomas Edison is famous for saying:

Consequently, if you don’t allow yourself to stop, evaluate if what you’re doing is working, then it’s hard to grow and know when it’s time to pivot or move on to something else.

Listen below to find out how you can know when it’s time to quit and when it’s time to persist.

Timeline:

0:55 – Quitters never win.

1:05 – Sometimes quitting is the best option.

1:30 – Set your objective ahead of time.

3:00 – The sunk cost fallacy.

5:25 – Knowing when to quit.