True story. One of the top phrases in my vocabulary is “I quit.”
I know. It’s not the frou-frou, happy phrase you might have been expecting.
But it’s true.
I “quit” every day.
But I’m not a loser.
In fact, quitting is one of my best kept secrets.
You may be rolling your eyes at me, but I guarantee you it works.
Here is a classic example…
For the past 2 months I have been working on a HUGE new project for Girls Can’t WHAT? and it was stressing me out. There were lots of things to think through and a ton of decisions to be made. I had come to what seemed like a roadblock, when I leaned over my desk to put my head down. As my forehead hit the desktop, I said out loud (and quite emphatically) “I quit!”
I was mad. Frustrated. Things were not working out as planned and I couldn’t even think clearly enough to find a solution. So I quit.
But in that moment something happened. Somewhere between the words “I quit” leaving my lips and my head hitting the desk, the seemingly impossible happened.
The answer just appeared. I knew instantly what I needed to do to solve the problem. I sat straight up, typed a few things into my computer and *poof* – just like that the problem was solved.
How does that happen? Is it just dumb luck?
Actually, there’s no luck involved at all. It’s very simple. When you give up, your mind lets go of the problem. When you stop wrestling with the issue, the possibilities you couldn’t see before start to appear.
As a web developer and an artist, I am a problem solver. It’s what I have to do in order to create. So every day I quit. I stop myself and go for a walk. I workout. I shut the computer off and go read a book. I quit. I give up and let go.
And that’s when the magic happens.
Try it. I promise don’t make this stuff up.
In fact, I’m writing this post late at night because I gave up. I didn’t have any ideas for this week’s blog post and I was tired.
So I quit.
I even thought about not sending out a newsletter this week.
I took my dog for a walk and then the ideas came.
So here I am typing away, even though I quit an hour ago.
Quitters are winners.
Don’t be afraid to quit.
