Chivano Keith was running in the 2019 London Marathon and she started experience some pretty bad pain around mile 3 or so. She broke her leg at about mile 8 of the marathon but continued on continuing to the finish line. The reason is because there was a finish line and that finish line happened to be somewhat arbitrarily set at 26.2 miles. If she had broken her leg on my late in a half marathon I guess she would have continued but only for 13 miles. But if she wouldn't have even broken her leg if she was in a 5k, why did she keep going? It doesn't matter whether you run eight miles more than you would have if you hadn't started the
What if becoming a better quitter was something to aspire to?
Annie Duke thinks it is. She’s a national science foundation fellowship winner and bestselling author who’s used her background in psychology to become a successful poker player and business advisor. Lately, she’s spent time studying the power of quitting, a tool she argues is as important as grit, resilience, and sticking it out.
The science shows we’re not great at it. We don’t fire quickly enough. We don’t quit soon enough. We don’t end relationships early enough. Why? Well, identity and goals play a role. Along with many of the messages our culture sends that err more on the side of stick it out than on the side of quit and try something else.
Annie’s compelling book on the topic is titled, Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away. It’ll help you see how sticking with something that’s not working is just as much a decision as quitting. You’ll begin to view quitting as an important tool to add to your decision-making toolkit, especially when you understand better when to use it.
Episode Links
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
To Change, or Not to Change? Just Flip a Coin
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
The Team
Learn more about host, Gayle Allen, and producer, Rob Mancabelli, here.
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