“Don’t be a quitter!” “Quitters never win, and winners never quit!”
These maxims encapsulate our usual attitude towards quitting, which is to see it as a bad thing, a weakness, a character defect. We celebrate those who stick with things, who have grit.
But my guest would say that quit and grit are just two sides of the same coin, and that quitting is a valuable skill to learn and get good at. Her name is Annie Duke, and she’s a former professional poker player, a speaker, a consultant, and an author. In her latest book,
Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away, she seeks to rehabilitate quitting by showing how — whether it’s in the context of ending a relationship, leaving a job, or climbing a mountain — it has essential benefits. We discuss those benefits in today’s show, as well as how to know when to quit. We unpack how whether you should stick with something comes down to an equation of its positive “expected value,” how setting goals too rigidly can get in the way of our being able to assess that value, and the cognitive biases that keep you from quitting when you should. We end our conversation with two strategies for overcoming these biases, including establishing “kill criteria” to give yourself a timetable for how long to go after an aim.
Resources Related to the EpisodeThe Character Traits That Drive Optimal Performance [REBROADCAST]
Grappling With Life's "Wild Problems"
How to Read Minds and Detect Deception
The Bicycle as Freedom and Flight
The Groundhog Day Roadmap for Changing Your Life
Where You Should Live When You Could Live Anywhere
From Novice to Advanced — The Weightlifter's Journey
Tactics and Mindset Shifts for Making the Most of Life
Lonesome Dove and Life's Journey Through Uncertainty
Future-Proof Your Body by Practicing Good Posture
Developing the Warrior Within
Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet, At Every Age [REBROADCAST]
Routines Are Overrated
Escape the Safety Trap
What Made JFK So Compelling?
The Philosophy of Self-Improvement
Life Lessons From the World's Greatest Negotiator
Building a Second Brain
What It's Like to Spend a Year in Space
How to Make a Good Argument
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West