There’s a fine line between success and failure. Often there’s only one chance in a situation. You either make it or lose it all.
David Goggins called it the one second decision, whether an MMA fighter taps out or bet his health and future to have a chance to win.
Great athletes often have that mental toughness. Ex-NBA player Chris Bosh wrote in his book, Letters to a Young Athlete:
Pain is temporary; glory is forever. If you want to excel, you have to get used to the pain. You have to get used to exhaustion. I can’t promise you that it will ever be a comfortable feeling, but I can guarantee you that you can become familiar enough with it that you can visit that mental and physical space on your path to getting better and not have to worry that you’ll crumple under the pressure.
There were times when I didn’t train enough and struggled in the middle of a long distance run, I’d find myself with thoughts like ‘why am I doing this’, or ‘this is silly and meaningless.’ Luckily I was too ashamed to quit in those official runs. On a smaller scale this is something I face in my daily exercises. If I quit frequently, it’d no longer be a habit.
Quitting once gives us a precedent to quit again, while persisting despite discomfort trains our mental toughness. Chris Bosh put it well: “You become capable of the grind by surviving the grind.
So is quitting bad? Not necessarily.
Annie Duke argues that we are often too reluctant and slow to quit (we don’t ignore sunk costs and value opportunity costs properly). If we persist in something that doesn’t fit us, we might waste a lot of time. Ralph Waldo Emersion said: “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” Quitting gives us opportunities to try more things.
But does quitting also make us a jack of all trades? Some call those who die on their quests to climb Mount Everest reckless. But often it’s also those who don’t know when to quit make history.
There is no correct answer. I think it’s best to experiment enough to know what we like, and then put in effort to be as best as we can in the area we want to pursue. Quitting shouldn’t happen when we are in the middle of a tough situation, but when we calmly reflect on our priorities in life.
We have to enjoy the whole process, the struggles as well as the accomplishments. What would I be willing to do day in and day out to master or achieve something?
Again from Chris Bosh:
You have to figure out how to love it – all the sprints, all the miles, all the weights, all the preparation. Pretend you love it, trick yourself into loving it, whatever it takes…
Your blessing in life is when you find the torture you’re comfortable with…it’s work, it’s exercise. Find the torture you’re comfortable with and you’ll do well.
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