There are too many cliches that people taken for granted. One example, many people thought that "never quit" is a good rule of thumb. That's why after I received the picture on the right from 2 of my facebook friends, I finally have enough and decided to write this article.
Geez, you guys really reading too much motivational materials. Please, this cliche is, at best, only a half truth.
If John Romero knew his limit, gave up his bullshit dream, and didn't even start his bullshit Ion Storm company, he wouldn't be embarrassed by the "Daikatana."
If Adolf Hitler realized that human will has limitation, and quit after he got Austria & Cekoslovakia, he wouldn't bashed his army with the gigantic Soviet Red Army.
If John Franklin knew that he took the wrong route, decided that it's not worth the risk and quit, he and his expedition may survive.
If Napoleon quit earlier after he defeated the Prussian and made peace with the Russian, he would marginalized the British, defeat them without further war, and shaped Europe as he likes.
Sometimes, "never quit" is the stupidest decision a man could take. Sometimes, a man should examined everything and said "This is bullshit, I will jeopardize everything if I don't quit now."
Using "never quit" as a rule of thumb is essentially assuming that you are a perfect God who will never ever make a mistake. News flash: YOU ARE NOT!! You are only a normal homo sapiens who could make stupid decision. Every time you make such decision, quit before too late. No, often quitting is not enough, often you need to hit the reverse gear as hard as possible.
If Adolf Hitler realized that human will has limitation, and quit after he got Austria & Cekoslovakia, he wouldn't bashed his army with the gigantic Soviet Red Army.
If John Franklin knew that he took the wrong route, decided that it's not worth the risk and quit, he and his expedition may survive.
If Napoleon quit earlier after he defeated the Prussian and made peace with the Russian, he would marginalized the British, defeat them without further war, and shaped Europe as he likes.
Sometimes, "never quit" is the stupidest decision a man could take. Sometimes, a man should examined everything and said "This is bullshit, I will jeopardize everything if I don't quit now."
Using "never quit" as a rule of thumb is essentially assuming that you are a perfect God who will never ever make a mistake. News flash: YOU ARE NOT!! You are only a normal homo sapiens who could make stupid decision. Every time you make such decision, quit before too late. No, often quitting is not enough, often you need to hit the reverse gear as hard as possible.
Instead of using "never quit" as the rule of thumb, I used self-introspection and risk assessment:
1) What are the risks? What are the potential rewards?
2) What are their odds?
3) What is the opinion of reliable-impartial true experts (EXPERTS!! not one single expert.) about this matter?
4) How I could increase the odds of success?
5) What sacrifice I have to take if I quit? If I continue?
And so on.
After running through that introspection-assessment, decide whether to quit or to continue. Deciding to always continue based on "never quit mantra" is just suicidal.
Here is one last thing a person who "never quit" also never do ... get ready:
APOLOGIZE
Yup. Apologize. Not only by saying "I am sorry," because talk is cheap, but giving TRUE apology. If you apologize, you admit that you screwed up, and you have to quit, otherwise your apology is not sincere. That's why I want to punch every single motivational-speaker on their face. They ONLY speak about the nice possibilities without discussing any risk, creating obnoxious douchebags, each of these douchebags think that they are a perfect God who could never make a mistake. That's why I also hate their pompous audiences who brags that they listen to those motivational speakers AND belittling others who pointed out the bullshitness of their rhetorics as "Quitter." They lack a certain thing that we call "humility".
So, still thinking that "never quit" is a good rule of thumb?
After running through that introspection-assessment, decide whether to quit or to continue. Deciding to always continue based on "never quit mantra" is just suicidal.
Here is one last thing a person who "never quit" also never do ... get ready:
APOLOGIZE
Yup. Apologize. Not only by saying "I am sorry," because talk is cheap, but giving TRUE apology. If you apologize, you admit that you screwed up, and you have to quit, otherwise your apology is not sincere. That's why I want to punch every single motivational-speaker on their face. They ONLY speak about the nice possibilities without discussing any risk, creating obnoxious douchebags, each of these douchebags think that they are a perfect God who could never make a mistake. That's why I also hate their pompous audiences who brags that they listen to those motivational speakers AND belittling others who pointed out the bullshitness of their rhetorics as "Quitter." They lack a certain thing that we call "humility".
So, still thinking that "never quit" is a good rule of thumb?
I would have to say that "never quit" is bad advice because it can pertain to anything - like say an insane stalker with a crush on a celebrity. However, I do think it is important to never give up on something that you are passionate about if it is a positive influence on your life (i.e. self expression). If you love writing and happen to be good at it (of course, you need to be sure you aren't BS'ing yourself on the 'good' part) you should never give up because publishers will reject you hundreds of times before accepting you in most circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with motivational posters and motivational speakers is that they fail to cover the correct circumstances in which their particular motivation would be helpful.
^ Totally agree.
ReplyDelete