Knowing When To Quit.

Outside in the chilly spring air, my brother Jeremy and I were discussing what it meant to lose your passion or, more importantly, knowing when to quit.

Often this advice is loosely thrown around much like unwarranted advice disbursed around a backyard bbq like "winners never quit" and "quitters never win."

Now, whilst that is true as a generic metaphor or shakey way for the average to maintain a basic motivation, for the successful individual knows and understands better than anyone.

KNOWING WHEN TO QUIT IS A SIGN OF WISDOM.

To illustrate this point better let me share my moment of triumphant quitting. 

It came after achieving the biggest victory of my life. It took 10 years of toil, struggle, heartache, tears, and defeat.

Not only that but the burning passion which was like a candle burning a white-hot flame in my soul has simply extinguished.

It was a moment of simultaneous joy and agony. 

A horrifying fear penetrated my mind, the thought of "what would I do with my life if I do quit?" 

"Would I look like a failure to those I respected?"

"Would our competitors silently and mercilessly mock me and say "we knew you couldn't hack it!"

But I had never felt so much clarity about when the right moment to quit would call my name. 

I just knew.

You will too.

My moment came standing at the edge of the floor of the World Championships in Quebec, Canada. 

My dream had manifested into a reality.

With my beautiful wife in tow, we had finally clawed our way to the top of Professional 10 Dance to represent Australia. In which the World Championships only had two couples from each country compete. 

After that competition, my passion was gone and flame vanquished. 

Poof. Out.

We were in the elite class of world professional dancing, something that very few ever get to experience.

We had dreamed of this moment every single day for just over a decade.

All of our decisions were always based around our dancing.

From the food we ate to the clothes we wore, how we walked, how we slept, what we thought, and all our spare time was dedicated to our art. 

Our pathway was clear and we had the connections, lessons, money, ability to go as far as we wanted. 

But...no amount of goal setting, affirmations, declarations, coaching, or voodoo could bring back the feelings of drive and ambition because our time to finish had come.

There is a chasm between the feeling of loss of motivation, feeling not up to the work and when it's time to quit. They are poles apart in the "knowing."

My brother had a similar example.

His successful restaurants came to an abrupt halt the moment he knew. The cherry on top was an explosion in the kitchen that almost sent him bankrupt and cost many thousands of dollars in legal fees and injury to staff. 

But he knew his time had come after decades of service.

You will be faced with numerous obstacles and challenges as you pursue your dreams.

If you are chasing hard and beating down the windy path in pursuit of achievement you will have bold opposition.

This is normal and to be expected.

Even feelings of being overwhelmed, frustration, stress, and worry are not signs you should quit.

THEY ARE MORE LIKELY SIGNS YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.

Turn your attention to your inner space.

For you will know at a gut feeling level that you are ready to quit and your time for a new adventure has arrived.

Be not afraid of the small-minded opinions of others, trust yourself to distinguish between when it is not working, when you need a new strategy or when it's time to hang up your dancing shoes.

There is a higher reason for your feelings and if you trust your intuition you'll never make a mistake.

Vaughan.