Tuesday, March 26, 2013

It's a Big Fat Lie

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People will tell you, "Winners never quit and quitters never win!" and there were a lot of years I believed them.
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But it's a lie.
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A big, fat, nasty, slimy, ugly, misleading lie.
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The truth is, winners quit all the time.  They just know when and what to quit.  Quite often, we get going in the wrong direction.  We get working on a fruitless project.  We get behaving in an unproductive manner.  We get mired.
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and if we stay there ... well, that's not winning.  It never will be.
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We have to be willing to say, "Nope.  Wrong turn." and quit what we are doing.
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In writing it's called shelving a manuscript
In the professional world it's called leapfrogging
In parenting it's called closing your mouth and listening to your child for once (okay, that was just for me..but you get my point ;)
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So, that's what I'm learning.  And it's cool to have the truth.  Who knows, I just might get somewhere!
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Tell me:  What have you quit lately in order to win?

7 comments:

Michelle D. Argyle said...

I shelved a book recently, and realized a lot of what you're realizing here in this post. It wasn't fun, but I've moved on and I'm plowing forward. I hope you're doing okay. *HUGS*

Tess said...

Yes, I am good - great actually. You're right, it's hard to make that decision but it feels good to turn in a better direction. thanks, Glam!

Barbara Watson said...

I like the way you approached this. We need to hear it.

I've shelved a few manuscripts. :-) And I'm learning to close my mouth and listen better (I hope I'm making progress).

Tess said...

Thanks, Barbara - and I enjoyed your post over at the kindness project. I tried to comment but for some reason it wouldn't allow. Still, a great thought on taking care of our dreams.

Kittie Howard said...

Great post! I haven't shelved anything lately, but am quick to do so when it doesn't feel right. Long ago, a gal from Texas used to say: The coyote who runs lives longer than the wolf who stays to fight. It's true!

Davin Malasarn said...

As I have been dipping my toes in the business world, I'm hearing the term "pivoting" a lot. I think it's appropriate because, yes, you're quitting one thing, but you're not stopping completely. You're just realizing that you should have taken a left in Albuquerque.

Tess said...

Kittie: that is a great saying and I'm totally going to steal it and use it :)

Davin: pivoting is a great word...but now I'm all curious about what you are up to and when I try to find your blog it blocks me - are you taking a break from that or am I looking in the wrong place?? I do miss your writing...