Fighting My Comfort Level: Can Quitting Be A Good Thing?

"You know the bromide: 'a winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.'

To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure? Sometimes quitting is strategic, and sometimes it can be your best possible plan."

The Freakonomics Podcast

I'm a huge fan of the Freakonomics books, blog and podcast.  If you're not a fan, you may want to give them a listen.  Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt are among the more insightful and contemplative thinkers that I currently listen to on a regular basis.  I don't necessarily agree with everything they say, but they always make me think.

One of their more interesting recent podcasts was called The Upside of Quitting. The quote from the top of this post is taken from the blog entry associated with the podcast episode.  In short, they ask "Is it okay to quit?"  This got me thinking about lots of different elements to my own life, and, although I'm not a huge fan of quitting in general, I can see the benefit in clearing away the unnecessary and unproductive elements of our everyday life.  But what does that mean in terms of running a Tough Mudder or education?  Is it okay to quit those things?

Well, if we're honest with ourselves, it would be much easier to quit the Tough Mudders than it would be to quit our educational pursuits.  After all, each of us makes our living in education.  Tough Mudders are fun and challenging, but they don't pay the bills (unless someone wants to sponsor us...hint, hint...).  Having said that, though, I would find it extremely difficult to quit Tough Mudders.  They have provided me a venue that motivates me to do my best, and they challenge me in many different ways.  In fact, I struggled mightily to align my earlier post about Saying Yes with these thoughts on quitting, but then I realize that quitting is really in your perspective.  Is quitting a bad thing?  Not necessarily...in fact, it could simply be considered a way of saying yes to another possibility.  I know that sounds "squishy" and smacks of justification, but it's really not that far fetched to think of starting to get in shape as a way of quitting a sedate lifestyle.  In that case, I said yes to exercise by quitting my couch-potato ways, which leads me to the real message of this email: shaking up our comfort level.

Comfort, in and of itself, is not a bad thing.  But, getting too comfortable with our circumstances can become a form of inertia that drags us into habitual behavior...behavior that doesn't allow us to see other possibilities.  We drive to and from work a particular way...we're comfortable with it.  We teach a particular way...we're comfortable with it.  We eat certain foods...we're comfortable with them.  We exercise (or don't) in particular ways...we're comfortable with our choices.  Each of these aren't necessarily bad, but if our comfortable choice is unhealthy, or misguided, or "the easy way", or not well reasoned, or not well founded, then we are doing ourselves (and those around us) a disservice by continuing those comfortable habits.  If we reflect on our practices - whether they be health-wise or educational - and find that they are comfortable but lacking, then we MUST quit. 

In many ways, my desire to run in the WTM is all about proving myself, but it also has another important facet: I want to keep myself uncomfortable.