Quit Job

Knowing When to Quit Job

That you do not like your job is not a reason to become an entrepreneur. It may sound like a good reason but it is not a strong enough reason. It definitely lacks a strong enough mission. Although almost everyone can become an entrepreneur, entrepreneurship is not for everyone.

            There is an old saying that goes, “Winners never quit and quitters never sin.” Personally, I do not agree with that saying. It is too simple. In my reality a winner also knows when to quit. Sometimes in life, it is best to cut your losses. It is best to admit you have come to a dead end or to admit you have been barking up the wrong tree.

            In my opinion, a quitter is someone who quits simply because things have gotten tough. I have been a quitter many times in my life. I have quit diet program, exercise programs, girlfriends, business, books, studies, and so on. Every year I make New Year’s resolutions and quit. So I know what quitting is and that I am a quitter.

            One of the reasons I did not quit my process in becoming an entrepreneur was that I really wanted to be one. I wanted it badly. I wanted to enjoy the freedom, the independence, the wealth, and the ability to make a contribution to this world that a successful entrepreneur has. In spite of how badly I wanted to become a successful entrepreneur, the powerful concept of quitting was always right in front of me, holding the door open. It would have been easy to quit when I was out of money and owed a lot of money. It would have been easy to quit when the tax department let me know that I owed more in back taxes. It would have been easy to quit when thing were tough, quitting was always lurking nearby, just a handshake away.

            For me, becoming an entrepreneur is a process, a process I am still in. I believe I will be an entrepreneur in training till the end. I love business and I love solving business problems. There have been times I have cut my losses, shut a business down, changed directions, but when it came to process of becoming an entrepreneur, I have never quit – at least not yet. It is a process I love. It is a process that brings me the kind of life I want. So although the process has been not mean it needs to be tough for you. One reason for writing this text is that I want to make the process easier for everyone who is about the start the process or is already in the process.

            Before ending this text, I thought I would leave you with one little thing that kept me going. It was the glow in the dark, even in the darkest of hours. I had a little piece of paper taped to the base of the telephone in my office at the wallet company. That little piece of paper came from a Chinese fortune cookie. It said, “You can always quit. Why start now?” There were many phone calls I had to handle that provided me with more than enough reason for me to quit. Yet after hanging up the phone, I would glance at the words of wisdom from the fortune cookie and say myself, “As much as I want to quit, I won’t quit today. I’ll quit tomorrow.” The good thing is, tomorrow never came.