CLASSIC - How to Quit Well Using Kill Criteria & a Quitting Coach with Annie Duke

Quitting gets a bad rap, but it can actually be the smartest move. How do you know when it's time to cut your losses?

In the final episode of this special 3-part series, Annie Duke, decision-making expert and former professional poker player, shares her insights on quitting well. With over $4 million in poker tournament winnings, Annie knows the importance of reading signals and walking away at the right moment. She provides science-backed tactics to overcome bias, including sunk cost fallacy, which often causes us to double down when we should fold.

Annie explains the power of creating "kill criteria" in advance to remove emotion from quitting decisions. She also stresses the need to appoint "quitting coaches" who can offer an outside perspective when you're stuck in analysis paralysis. Expect practical guidance on setting benchmarks, advocating for candid feedback from your team, and having the courage to make a strategic retreat so you can redeploy time and resources to more promising opportunities.

Key Takeaways:

• Simply knowing about biases won't prevent you from falling victim to them
• Imagining you're "fresh" to a choice doesn't help - you're still stuck in the current context
• Develop clear "kill criteria" for projects to dictate when you'll abandon a failing course
• Designate "quitting coaches" to provide detached, objective advice
• Give people permission to tell you hard truths - it's the kindest thing long-term
• Regularly reassess and update kill criteria as new information emerges
• Frame quitting decisions positively - you're reallocating resources to better options

Buy Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away

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Quotable moments:

"It doesn't matter what I've put into something. What matters is whether the next dollar is worth it." - Annie Duke

"Kill criteria are not going to make you perfect at this, but if we can go from zero to three, that's a huge win." - Annie Duke

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ABOUT THE BLUEPRINT PODCAST:

The BluePrint Podcast is for busy professionals and Household CEOs who care deeply about their families, career, and health. Host Dr. Erik Korem distills cutting edge-science, leadership, and life skills into simple tactics optimized for your busy lifestyle and goals.   Dr. Korem interviews scientists, coaches, elite athletes, entrepreneurs, entertainers, and exceptional people to discuss science and practical skills you can implement to become the most healthy, resilient, and impactful version of yourself.

On a mission to equip people to pursue audacious goals, thrive in uncertainty, and live a healthy and fulfilled life, Dr. Erik Korem is a High-Performance pioneer. He introduced sports science and athlete-tracking technologies to collegiate and professional (NFL) football over a decade ago. He has worked with the National Football League, Power-5 NCAA programs, gold-medal Olympians, Nike, and the United States Department of Defense.

Erik is an expert in sleep and stress resilience. He is the Founder and CEO of AIM7, a health and fitness app that unlocks the power of wearables by providing you with daily personalized recommendations to enhance your mind, body, and recovery.

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