When to stick and when to bail | GB60

In this 60th episode, we're diving into a crucial topic for entrepreneurs: knowing when to quit.

This episode goes beyond the "stay positive" rhetoric. Host Illana is a pro-quitter and believes quitting strategically is essential for success.

Learn a valuable framework to help you decide when to walk away or double down on your endeavors. We'll explore:

• The difference between quitting and giving up.
• Identifying when you've learned what you needed from an experience.
• Recognizing the pressure to "finish" and how it can be counterproductive.
• Practical tools and a clear methodology to help you make informed decisions.

Remember, quitting isn’t the same thing as failing.

Bonus: Check out episode 33 for more insights on why the world needs more quitters, not less.

For more details, visit illanaburk.com.

Good Business is hosted by Illana Burk, CEO of Illana Burk Consulting llc and strategic coach and advisor to entrepreneurs, creative leaders, and industry disruptors the world over.

For more of illana around the web:
Web: illanaburk.com
On TikTok: @illanaburk
On Insta: @illanaburk

Transcript

0:41

Welcome back, everybody. Today is a bit of a celebration as it marks our 60th episode, which I had no idea what a milestone that was, but apparently that's kind of a big deal because I just read an article that most people stop podcasting after like their 9th or 10th episode, so the fact that I have made it to 60 episodes feels kind of astounding. So, in recognition of my ability to stick with something that long, Today's topic is all about that very thing. How to know when to stick with something and when to bail. This is, at its core, one of the hardest and most fundamental things that any business owner needs to work out in order to achieve any kind of actual sustainability or long term stability. So, full disclosure, I am a huge fan of quitting things. This is not going to be an about, um, how to Think positive and stick to something. That's not what this is. This is an actual, like, evaluative process that you can go through to figure out if you're in a spot where it's time to go or time to stay. Um, I even actually did an episode about quitting specifically. So if you want, check out episode 33 if you're interested in knowing more of my thoughts on how the world actually needs more quitters, not less. I'm very pro quitting. I have quit So many things. If you guys had any idea how many things are sitting on my hard drive, half done, not started, folders for things. My god, if you had any clue how many domains I own that I will never do anything with because they were brilliant ideas at two o'clock in the morning. It's kind of a mark of an entrepreneur as far as I'm concerned and I have quit way more than I have finished in my career. that used to be, like, kind of hard for me until I realized that the hard part was the pressure that everybody else puts on you, right? That somehow following through and finishing is like a badge of honor in our culture, which is really kind of counterproductive, honestly. Especially when it comes to entrepreneurship and extra especially when you're trying to make a living, right? Because what is right for you, what you're capable of doing is kind of everything. You're your only gas tank, which means if you're running on fumes or you just hate what you're doing, then you might as well get a job and let somebody else just pay you and make your life easier. So if you hate it, that's kind of, you know, a big deal. quitting also means that sometimes you learned what you needed from a situation or an experience or an endeavor and you don't need it anymore. So today we're going to explore how to know the difference, because knowing the difference, like accepting quitting is one thing, knowing the difference between rationalizing walking away because you're letting all the wrong things kind of rise up to the surface, uh, and knowing when it's time to actually just go, you know what, I'm done. Those are two different things, and it's really important to be able to ascertain the difference. So I'm going to be going through, a methodology today, and then actually giving you some tools that you can use. So, what are we really talking about? There's a ton of areas that we can cover here, but in the constraint of a single episode, I'm going to focus on work initiatives for your business that are not for clients. So we aren't talking about client driven relationships or projects, that could be a whole series on like when to quit a client project, right? But this is just, the stuff that you're creating that got halfway done, or that you just didn't get all the way through in some way, or that maybe you're in that spot right now. So, it's about your work in the world that you're trying to promote your ideas, or that you're trying to offer your work to more people. That's what we're doing today. So we're talking the half written books, the nobody's listening podcasts, the workshop series that wasn't quite a series so much as a single workshop, the weekly article that isn't quite weekly, that sort of stuff, right? So there's four core questions that I'm going to be covering today to help you know when you should pivot, or when you should stay. the first question is why did you start to begin with and what was the outcome that you wanted? It's kind of a two parter. Number two is why do you want to quit or stay? Number three is what are the tangible and intangible upsides of both options, quitting and staying? And number four is what do you actually want next in the area of your life that's most affected by what you're doing? So we're going to go through all four of those in much deeper detail now. So first. Why did you start to begin with, and what was the outcome you were looking for? The outcome you hoped for when you started needs to relate to at least two areas of satisfaction in your life, like family or work, Promotion and joy, or professional growth and financial gain, right? Two areas of things that are sort of pushing you along or motivating you, things where you need satisfaction. if the outcome that you started with, that you were hoping for, doesn't relate to at least two areas, and you're only doing it for one reason alone. Congrats! You get to quit now! Because it's extremely unlikely that if your goal was only relating to one area of satisfaction, that it will be enough to carry you through the parts of the project that grind along painfully slowly in the middle. Now why is that? Because during any project, the context and the conditions will change around you. If financial gain was what you were doing it for, and that was the only thing, and your financial situation changes, then the need for completing the thing in front of you evaporates, right? You need at least two areas of satisfaction that connect you to the project, so that if one wanes The other can buoy your motivation. Now, when I'm starting something out, I look for at least three or four areas of satisfaction. Things that do double, triple, and quadruple duty for me, so that when the conditions change and one thing is no longer really lighting me up, or even a causality for need, I have the other stuff to lean on that can carry me through. The next phase, whatever phase I'm in, that's making me go, eh, I don't want it anymore. Right? Okay. So, the second question is, why do you want to quit or stay? This is the one that you have to be most honest about. Saying your reasons out loud can really help you hear them, too. Like, actually, saying them out loud, like, I want to quit because Right? Actually doing that work to say it. Because when you hear yourself, sometimes you can hear the things that sound like fear and self doubt, and you can hear them masking as rationalizations and logic. So unless the conditions and areas of satisfaction that the outcome of that project will provide have completely changed, it's very likely that fear and self doubt are creeping in more than any tangible reason. So, this isn't so much a mindset conversation as it is, like, hey, I really wanted this thing, I still really want this thing. There are multiple areas of my life and work that will benefit from me completing this thing, but I really just don't want to because, you know, there's a dog that barks next to my office and it drives me crazy while I'm working and so I don't want to do it anymore, right? Like, we can all come up with these reasons why, like, fear and Self doubt are, like, really the thing rising up and we're just looking for an excuse. That's the stuff we're talking about. That's what rationalizations and logic can start to press in. and we can use all kinds of things to rationalize, to find logic in quitting. There's always a lot of reasons to quit, right? And these are perfectly reasonable reasons to quit. Just fear and self doubt by themselves. Those are absolutely reasonable reasons to quit. If that's what's creeping in and it's pressing too hard on you, and that's not good for you or your mental health, by all means, quit because of those things. It's okay, right? The sky won't fall. Nobody's gonna die. It's okay. But if those are your reasons, you need to make sure you're being honest with yourself about those reasons. And so otherwise you're gonna need to get real comfortable with gnawing regrets. And more self flagellation. Like, if you're already struggling with those things, if you rationalize, you're always going to be sort of knowing that you were lying to yourself, and that's going to feel harder and harder to start the next new thing. So if you're like, okay, I'm just afraid of failure, and I don't feel like I am strong enough right now to proceed, I think that I need to stop because I'm feeling too overwhelmed and that's not good for me. That's how you let fear and self doubt honestly take over in a way that you can manage and grow from rather than just letting it gobble you up because it's far more likely that you will learn and grow from that if you're honest with yourself than if you try to just power through and pretend that's not what's going on. So, okay, number three. What are the tangible and intangible upsides of both options? I don't care at all about the downsides here for this exercise, and neither should you. Downsides are like the slippery, slopey sand hole of decision making, right? They are there, and they are many. There's always downsides. And the more you look at the mid project, the more they seem like that's all there is. And especially when the enthusiasm and the dopamine from starting something new starts to wane, oh my god, it's all downsides. And not like the fun, like, I'm on the other side, whee! Not like that kind of downside, but just like, uh, Oh my god, there's nothing good about this and everything is terrible, that kind of downside. So, ignore those. Just for this exercise, okay? We're just only gonna look at the tangible and intangible upsides of both options, quitting and staying. So you're gonna put all your focus on that and see which list you like more, right? Sometimes just figuring out the answer to your question, it's not about pros and cons, it's about just pros. We have to do pros of staying and pros of going. Which list is more appealing to you? That's gonna illuminate answers for you in a way that a lot of other things. So the answer is something that is furthered and fueled by the project at hand and it'll tell you tons. And if it's not, you also have your answer, right? So, finally, we reach the simplest question of all of them. What do you actually want next in the area of your life that's most affected by what you're doing? If what you've created so far is moving you towards something you want more than what you have right now, then you stick with it. And if it's not, you don't, right? Just notice if you have made progress even in the smallest of inches, and if that progress feels like something you want to keep moving towards. If you still want the things you wanted at the beginning, and the thing you're doing will still get you to there. Then there's your answer. All right. That's it today, you guys, and I really appreciated your time. Thank you for listening to our 60th episode. It is an honor and a pleasure to do these with you, and I hope you all have a wonderful day, and whatever you do, don't quit listening. See what I did there? Okay. Thanks for joining me, everyone. Have a really great day, and um, see you all soon. Bye.