Why I’m Quitting

I think quitting is underrated.

As I look back over my business life, there are a lot of things that I probably should have quit more quickly.

• I should have quit tech consulting the minute I realized that selling time for money had some real drawbacks.
• I should have closed some niche businesses when I realized that the impact they could make on the world was too small to satisfy me.
• I should have quit “searching” so hard for the answer to “what should I do?” when I realized that the act of teaching other people how to improve their lives is what makes me feel alive.

And now, as I’m ready to take everything in my life to the next level, I believe there are a few things still on my list to quit.

• I am going to quit making decisions based on fear.
• I am going to quit shielding my talents, my skills and my power.
• I am going to quit looking for answers in places outside myself.
• I am going to quit making “realistic” decisions that keep me from making a powerful impact on the world.
• I am going to quit thinking that extreme success is reserved for anyone else but me.
• And I’m going to quit letting the thoughts, opinions, or insecurities of others direct decisions about my life.

I’m realizing that I’ve bought into the “struggling entrepreneur” image for FAR too long.

Struggling is a relative term of course. But for me it’s a whole lot more about mindset than it is about whatever conditions I find myself in.

Do you ever feel that you’re climbing a mountain in your business or personal life?

It’s hard… struggle, struggle, struggle.

Right now, I think that’s a mindset that I’m ready to shed.

Here’s another one that I’m going to throw out:

The idea that quitting is in some way a bad thing.

Most people you ask would probably say it is a bad thing. A sign of weakness… a sign of failure…

But I don’t have to share their opinion. It’s not for me. And I don’t think it has much of a future in my reality.

I’ve caught a glimpse of what my future is and if I had to summarize it in one phrase, it’d be this:

Do LESS… Quit more things.

When I say “do less,” I’m not talking about outsourcing, or crowd sourcing or whatever the business automation flavor of the month is.

I’m talking about distilling the essence of the value that I bring to this world and focusing on delivering more of THAT… exclusively.

Doing less more effectively, with more power, with more focus and stronger intention.

I’m realizing that, for me, the road to success is not so much about acquiring more skills or techniques or strategies… it’s about SHEDDING the stuff that doesn’t serve me or that keeps me from delivering the maximum amount of value to the world that I’m able to dish out.

WARNING: I’ve found this takes a lot of guts.

So when’s the right time to QUIT?

You quit as soon as you realize that your time could be better spent in another way. That the time you have in this life could make more of an impact in another way.

But to be able to make that decision, you have to keep yourself from getting too caught up in the DOING.

The doing creates noise. And when it’s noisy, it’s really hard to hear.

See you Monday,

Jason Leister
Editor, The Client Letter
Creating Success for Independent Professionals
ClientsSuck.net