Don’t be a quitter is ingrained in us from very early on in our lives. Quitters are lazy. Quitters are something to be pitied or even despised.

I quit lots of stuff. There. I said it here in public, and not because I need pity. I’m proud of quitting- and I think more people need to give themselves the permission to guiltlessly quit things.

It used to be that every time I quit something, I felt like I failed a little. Like I left some incomplete portion of my brain behind. I became reluctant to start new things because I worried I wouldn’t finish them.

The important caveat to this is that you have to try long enough and hard enough so you can be honest with yourself about your reasons for quitting. You can’t quit because it’s hard. You can’t quit because it gets boring. But if, with effort and time, you can honestly say there’s no joy in it… Quit.

The thing about the “fear of quitting” is that it also leads to “fear of starting”- and starting is the most important thing. In order to see if something is worthwhile or rewarding you have to give it a shot. Not just a tentative fleeting try, but an earnest, honest try.

As a proud quitter I’ve recently and guiltlessly:

• Quit three books midway through, and then skimmed the last pages and index.
• Abandoned plans for two new web apps.
• Stopped two video games after nearly five hours into each.

I’ve also kept doing (and finished) more things than are worth listing here. But I abandoned these former commitments because I wasn’t getting enough out of them. I have opened up time, and mental capacity for new things to start. I might quit those things, too… But broadening my experience and maximizing my time towards the things which are most rewarding surely can’t be a bad thing.