Develop Your Not-Quitting Mindset

Every great mindset rebuilds from small things

Are you a quitter?

My answer, as always, would be:

“No, I am not a quitter!”

My inner voice: Wait, are you sure this is an accurate answer?

My conscious voice: No, you know this is not true!

A correct answer doesn’t mean it represents the truth of us:

I have been having trouble using my AirPod to connect with my MacBook for Zoom meetings since the beginning; since I know I have an alternative, the regular plug-in headphone, I haven’t spent much time finding out how it works. Eventually, the alternative became the only choice until today, when I left my headphone at home.

Fifteen minutes before the meeting, I realized I had no option but to make the AirPod works. Nonetheless, I began attempting to solve the same problem in the same way, which I already knew wouldn’t work from previous experiences.

Of course, you can tell that it didn’t work. I decided to give up at last; suddenly, because I wanted to give up and turn on the ‘computer audio’; surprisingly, it worked! I finally understand what I misunderstood for so long; it’s the computer audio I should use instead of choosing AirPod on the Zoom app. Because the AirPod is connected, it represents the computer’s audio system.

Motivational speeches, inspiring stories, and simply a quote we read on social media will tell us we shouldn’t quit because it can be harmful, negative, toxic, and destructive to our lives. Thus, saying we are not quitters becomes the correct answer in any given situation. However, some minor quitting decisions we may have made without notice.

This experience reminded me of a few things:

Changes start from minor things:

When we pay attention to quitting habits against minor issues, we can build more substantial power to overcome difficulties in significant goals.

Attempting to solve an issue requires even we have an alternative:

When we become too comfortable with the alternative, sometimes we leave the problem unsolved.

If the same way didn’t work, try a different way:

One of the main reasons we quit is that it didn’t work after a few attempts, but sometimes it’s not because of how many times we tried; it’s about how we had tried.

Correct answer doesn’t mean true to ourselves:

We can easily fall into social correctness and jump into the correct answer as our representation. When we recognize that is not true to ourselves, be honest with ourselves and change accordingly.

Surprise Ourselves

Neurologically, we love surprises. Anything that presents as a prediction error for good, even if only solving a minor problem, releases an extra amount of dopamine. It feels pleasant and boosts our motivation to solve more.

I understand that quitting and letting go can be counterintuitive; my questions for you are:

Do you think quitting and letting go are different?

How do you know when it is time to let go but not quit?

Thank you for reading, and I would love to know your thoughts!