Confessions of a Quitter

“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” –  Lance Armstrong

At first glance that quote might seem harsh, but our friend Lance is on to something.

You never get over the regret of quitting.

I remember as far back as when I was 13. I had just become the first cadet in Concord on record to achieve the Billy Mitchell award with the Civil Air Patrol. One step away from being an officer. Didn’t feel like working at it anymore. I quit.

I remember when I was 19 going through the most grueling interview process ever for a very good job. If I remember there were 800 applicants and only 4 or 5 were hired. After 2 months of working to get the job I lasted 2 days. Too hard. I quit.

About 15 years ago I worked in graphic design and construction for a sign company, and I decided to start my own business on the side. I spent a lot of time and money getting setup, had a shop, bought equipment. The business didn’t come rolling in. This business thing is hard. I quit.

For much of my life if it didn’t come easy to me I didn’t think it was worth doing. It was easier to quit.

So I think Lance Armstrong is right. Quitting lasts forever, because you never forget.

And each time you quit, it gets easier to do it.

I mean there weren’t any huge consequences to any of those things in my life, or were there?

I had always wanted to get my pilot’s license.  I took ground school but never got the flight time I needed. Sticking with CAP would have given me many hours of flight time toward that goal.

Quitting that very good paying job meant I didn’t have the money to go to college, but bounced from lousy job to lousy job. Perceiving that I was out of options, I joined the Army. I am proud to have served, but it wasn’t my first choice.

The sign business? Who knows? All I know now is that I never gave it the chance it deserved.

So why am I telling you all this?

Because Quitting Hurts.

It hurts you, and it hurts the ones you care about.

Not living up to your potential robs you, your family, your community and the world of you being all you can be and the powerful things you can accomplish, if you are willing to persevere.

And yes, accomplishing your health and fitness goals has a tremendous impact on how you view yourself and how you relate with others.

If that wasn’t true, why did you start in the first place?

We have clients and readers all over the country.

You train in our facilities, or someone else’s, or maybe at home.

And you have come to discover that this training thing is hard.

It takes time, and commitment, and the willingness to change.

You need to face that reality that it does not happen as fast as you want it to, no matter how well you are doing.

When it comes down to it we have seen all sorts of training and diet programs “work”.

The common thread of success is actually doing it.

Not trying, but doing.

All in, nothing gets in your way.

As my friend Chris Mohr says, you need to F.O.C.U.S.

Follow

One

Course

Until

Successful

Because I am willing to bet you are this close to making a break through, and because of something, big or small, real or unreal, you want to give up.

I wasted a lot of energy, a lot of money and a lot of years because I quit.

For those of you who know me as your coach and personally this confession may have surprised you.

But as unpleasant as it is too tell you this story I felt it was necessary.

Because breaking the cycle and quitters mindset can be done.

And it’s not as hard as you think.

Just one time you have to stand up to the you that want to give up and shout…

NO!

Not this time.

Not ever.

I am not a quitter.

I am worth succeeding.

I can do this.

Life is too short.

Now is the time.

“Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”  ~Jacob A. Riis