“winners never quit, and quitters never win” is a lie

Question

As the title of this question states “winners never quit, and quitters never win” is a big fat lie !

Not only do 'Winners' quit, they are in fact masters at it, knowing when to quit versus when to persevere is the key, and I've recently come to realize like a 2-by-4 smack to the forehead, just how badly my blanket-adherence to such a cliche has affected me and my goals.

Do you have any examples, from personal experience or not, when quitting was the key to your winning ?

Or do you have any examples when dogged perseverance was the wrong thing to do (beyond the most obvious of examples) ?

Answer 1

Not everyone is that bothered about winning. Others have to win at all costs. Enough said.

Answer 2

Balance keeps us motivated and moving. When everything goes a persons way they tend to get smug. I had many winning and losing setbacks on my road to becoming a successful civil engineer. I had to take a break from it all to regroup in order to go forward again. Those temporary setbacks built character. I needed to lose some to win.

Answer 3

I interpret this saying a bit more like: quitters are those who stop trying altogether, and when you stop trying, you never win anything. Winners on the other hand, aren't always doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results (they call that insanity, right?), but they're constantly tweaking and modifying, learning from what didn't work and they get back out there and keep trying...and eventually they get a "win". The final product often looks nothing like the first attempt.

So with that in mind, your point is totally valid, that winners know when to "call it quits" on a bad idea and then move on to trying something different.

As for me, I try not to get too hung up on a particular outcome or belief, because I recognize there are too many variables in life outside of my control. I have goals I work towards, but I always keep an open and growth-minded outlook to stay adaptable to constantly changing circumstances (both internally and externally). I wouldn't say I'm a "winner" though... I've definitely quit a lot of things, but I've also stuck with a lot of things as well. When I do make commitments, I take them very seriously.

Comments

I've found coming back and back to a problem has brought me a solution many times and has been worth it at the end of the day when a lot of people would have given up, I'm guessing.

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That's a good point, Blue. I recently watched a show that mentioned this quote:

“No man ever steps in the same river twice. For it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus

There's absolutely something to be said about walking away from a problem you're stuck on and coming back to it with fresh eyes, because now you're kind of a different person.