How to Quit Gracefully

One of the skills that is most important in life is learning when and how to quit. We have all been there. Maybe it is a school placement for your child, you have lost passion for your career, or a relationship has gone bad. Whatever it is, it does not feel right anymore or align with who you are. Everyone has been faced with the daunting question, “Is it time to quit?”

Get Clear About What You Want

When I am looking at quitting something, I always sit down and think hard about what am I feeling. Sometimes I want to quit and walk away because I am tired, over stressed, or discouraged. With the pandemic, people have quit their jobs in droves and are feeling a huge uncertainty. Did you have time while quarantined to think about your life? You may have struggled and not wanting to go back to pre-quarantine days but not exactly sure what to do now. Can you relate? Maybe it is not about you but your child. Is your child not progressing in their current placement or it is time to reevaluate and quit the placement.

Take some time and begin to journal about how you feel. If you feel your child is not making progress in their present placement, specifically where do you see it? It might be they are stagnate with a certain classroom. If you are sitting at work and feeling that nothing excites you anymore in your job or career, what specifically could you change to get your excitement back? If you could change something what would it be and what are the barriers? Gaining clarity as to what you want and don’t want will help!

Is Quitting the Answer?

Once you gain clarity you can begin to narrow down one or two areas that are not helping you to grow or develop in your career. It may not be time to walk away completely but to change a few things. Maybe you are tired of one area of your job or life and changing that one thing would make you feel completely different. There are times when I feel like my job is way too much and it affords me no personal time, but I love what do. Delegating more and handing off responsibilities took a load off my shoulders and reenergized me. I have also promised myself never to quit anything on a bad day. Make decisions when you are in a good frame of mind.

How do you Walk Away Gracefully?

One answer I found was to learn to let go of things that are not adding value anymore. We all change and sometimes the commitments we once made are not changing with us. Maybe you have tried to remedy the situation but you know in your heart you have to walk away gracefully.  For example, Pathways had an inclusive rock band that was an amazing program. We started rock band in 2011 and it became so successful that the kids actually sang on stage with the Jonas Brothers. 

Over time and with the pandemic, it became apparent that the rock band was taking too much time and the equipment was occupying a ton of our facility space. It was the hardest thing I had to do, but it was time to shut the program down and move on. We had other programs that were growing leaps and bounds, but the rock band was not one of them. I recently sold the equipment and we are using that space and time for new programs. We are servicing three times the number of children the rock band did and using the facility space six to seven days a week instead of one to two. It was the hardest thing I had to do because I was personally in love with the program, but there was no doubt it was the right thing to do. 

I often refer to letting go as positive change and seldom call it quitting. If I take the time to really evaluate all the pros and cons and honestly look at the mix of my head and heart, I will make the right decision. It may not always be the most popular one but is aways the right one. We may also make mistakes and sometimes quit too soon. There is nothing wrong with going back and trying again from a different perspective. Our perception of quitting is usually tainted with negativity. We equate quitting with being a quitter. Begin to think about change as a strategic move that is positive for you! You are not a quitter! Some of the best things in my life came about because I finally let go and walked away! You sometimes can't open another door until you finally close the one in front of you.