As humans, we are involved in many projects… Some are private, while others are business related. But we do all of them because there is some kind of goal or reward. But usually there is always also some kind of hardship involved.

  • working in a business can reward You with money, but it takes up all of Your time
  • drinking at parties can be fun, but sobering up the next morning is the opposite
  • playing an instrument can endear you to other people, but practicing is often demotivating because of the difficulty

These hardships can make You feel about quitting. These feelings are not bad. In fact, they are necessary to improve Your life quality! It’s better to quit than doing something unhealthy or bad for the rest of Your life.

Steven Bartlett invented a “quitting-framework” that can help You to decide whether it’s time to quit something. Check the cover image of this post. I found out about this in an Ali Abdaal video. It goes as follows…

First, You ask Yourself the question: “why am I thinking about quitting?”. The most common answers are just these two: Either it sucks, or it’s too hard.

It’s too hard

If it’s too hard, then You ask Yourself if the challenge is worth the reward. If the answer is Yes, then You should keep going. But if the answer is no, then You definitely should quit.

This is the case with the instrument example from above. How bad do You want to play the instrument? If Your answer is “it would be nice, but I don’t really need it”, then maybe it’s time to quit.

But if playing that instrument is Your dream, then don’t let anything stop You. Go practice!

It sucks

What if practicing suck? Well, that’s a different problem. Ask Yourself, “what can I do to make it suck less”. Here are some tips for the musical instrument example:

  • change the teacher
  • practice more slowly
  • have goals
  • create an atmosphere
  • have joy
  • play for Your parents

Think about your dream. If none of the things above are worth the effort, then You should really use Your time doing something else. Playing an instrument is really not the only way to get people’s attention. Become a good speaker? A comedian? A football player? Or maybe You can become the best strawberry cake baker in the world? Who knows…

Yes I know… its really straight forward but sometimes we are thinking in too many details.


Could I help? Buy me a drink ! 💙