Quitting something doesn’t always need to be a bad thing. These are a few questions to ask yourself before you quit something.
When you think of quitting, what comes to your mind? There are numerous ways to consider what quitting means. Some common interpretations for quitting could be a failure, running away, and even a bad thing to do, but there is more to it than these ideas. So, reflecting on the good questions to ask yourself before you quit something can be vital. Quitting itself is not always a bad thing.
After all, you might want to quit something for a particular reason. Whether it is your job, hobbies or relationship, they could sometimes cause aversive effects such as stress, anxiety and frustration. Also, you may have spent lots of time on something, and due to a temporary feeling of burnout, you are thinking of quitting it.
When you are wondering about quitting something, it can be crucial to reflect carefully since the chances are that you don’t want to be affected by the repercussions. For instance, regrets could last quite a long time and don’t feel that great to have to build up. Therefore, consider these questions to ask yourself before you quit something.
1. What Made You Start In The First Place?
If you think about everything we do, nothing truly is easy, no matter how simple things may look. Most of the time, anything you start would have its roadblocks, setbacks and challenges. It can be easy to succumb to the options in front and available to us, especially when facing difficult times. When you focus on the problem and challenges, it is often easy to forget why you started this in the first place and what you were trying to do.
So, one of the questions to ask yourself before you quit something would be to reflect on what made you start in the first place. Although you may find depending on what you are trying to quit, there might be different levels of consideration to make.
It would be helpful to think about how in-depth you need to think about why you started in the beginning. For instance, you may choose to ask the broader question and narrow it down. What made you start in the first place? Was it passion or reward that came with it? Also, if you had any goals or wanted to achieve something in particular by doing what you started, reflect on them.
You might have missed or forgotten something, such as the commitment you decided to put in and how you knew this choice was a difficult one. Whether it was your passion, dream, interest or reward that attracted you to do what you began, each path can have its challenges.
If you feel that you still want to achieve and it aligns with why you started, this time might be one of the setbacks you need to overcome. Check out here for positive affirmations to boost you positivity in times of difficulty.
2. What Made You Feel like Quitting?
Numerous reasons may have contributed to making you feel like quitting. To understand better if you really want to quit or if it is a passing phase, deep dive, to see what could have made you think about quitting.
Often, we tend to have thoughts of quitting if it makes us feel frustrated, stressed and unhappy. Whether what you are doing is your dream career, from your passion or provides you with attractive rewards. Changes can happen all the time, and this is not exempt from what you have been doing.
Therefore, when you feel like quitting, it can be important to reflect on what and why to find out the reasons best as possible. You could begin by thinking about any recent events or changes to your routine.
Something that happened recently could have brought up the feeling of quitting what you are doing. For instance, the work you have been doing started feeling more repetitive to a level that it became unaligned with what you wanted compared to when you began. Additionally, other factors could have made changes for you, such as your lifestyle and feelings when you do them and after. There are multiple factors that you can consider.
However, one of the vital things to think about would be how you feel and if what you are doing aligns with your goals. If what you are doing doesn’t feel like they align with your values and goals, the chances are that it might not make you feel happy and last long. Often, figuring out what and why you feel like quitting can help you decide what is best for you.
3. How Long Have You Felt Like Quitting?
The thoughts of quitting what you have been doing frequently arise from negative emotions and when aversive situations occur. Many of the things you do will have their setbacks or challenges, and you could say they are part of the process. Despite this, there are times when things look like how you imagined and at times that they are not, which is often the trigger of thinking about quitting.
So, one of the essential questions to ask before you quit something would be how long have you felt like you wanted to quit what you are doing. Reflecting on this question helps you to make the best decision as there are times when the feeling could have been temporary and others more long-term.
The chances are that you wouldn’t want to quit something due to a temporary sense of unhappiness and dissatisfaction, which possibly could be turned to regret later on. It can be vital to distinguish more accurate signs such as feeling like quitting or unhappy and possibly having doubts about what you are doing for months or longer.
Sometimes, quitting something is tough, especially if you have been doing it for a long time and it was your passion. It would be best to take time to think carefully if this is one of the challenges and setbacks part of the journey, time to take a break from it or let go completely. If this makes it easier for you, check out these signs that you enjoy what you are doing here.
4. Did You Do Everything You Can To Continue?
It is no surprise for changes to come up as you are on the journey of whatever you start. After all, so many things can happen from when you start something and as you continue doing them for longer. Most of the time, some setbacks and frustrations arise on the road, which you would tackle whether it was successfully overcome or put on hold for some time.
One of the ways you may attempt to face these challenges could have been by understanding and accepting them at times. Understanding and accepting what happened can be a good way to handle various situations, especially when things don’t work out easily.
It doesn’t, however, always work or could even contribute to your frustrated state and only delay a bigger impact until it comes at you later. You might be feeling burnout from a build-up of frustration from facing setbacks which is one of the reasons you are trying to quit what you are doing.
Therefore, think about before quitting, you have attempted to do everything you could to continue and make this work. You might find a different way that helps you continue what you are doing, and doing so, make you motivated for it again.
5. What Benefits Come From Quitting?
Often, quitting is associated with a negative connotation. For instance, ideas that if you quit constantly, you are not going to succeed and it is a bad thing to quit as if you are running away. This could be true in some circumstances, but that is not the case all the time, as sometimes quitting can be a better decision than continuing.
After all, continuing something you get frustrated or stressed easily and if that feeling remains for a long time wouldn’t be helpful for your well-being. Another one of the helpful questions to ask yourself before you quit something would be what benefits come from quitting the thing you are doing.
The chances are each opportunity, whatever you do, comes with its risk and cost. Sometimes, quitting allows you to spend additional time or resources and try other things that could be more valuable to you. If you are interested, check out here to learn about how you can live a more luxurious lifestyle.
6. Are There Any Consequences If You Quit?
Likewise, thinking about the benefits of quitting, it can be crucial to ask yourself if there are any consequences. You could consider some things that might happen and feel if you quit. This may not be ideal, but there can be various repercussions if you don’t consider things best as possible.
For instance, you could be in situations where you have regrets and associate yourself with the negative connotations of quitting, like the feeling of failure or that you are running away. So, take some time to think about if you tried your best and understand why you are quitting, whether it is a job, hobby or relationship before quitting.
It may be that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, or you constantly have negative feelings when you engage with them and financially be effected. Although we may not want to admit it, everyone has limits, and at times, it is important to acknowledge them. If you think there are consequences for quitting, take the time to find ways to mitigate them where possible.
7. Do You Have Something Else You Want To Pursue?
When you prepare to quit something, it would be helpful to take time to see what you would do after. The chances are that when you quit what you have been doing or your relationship, you have a gap or more time.
You could ask yourself what the next thing you perhaps want to pursue or do is. It wouldn’t need to be permanent but iterative for the time being. After all, having something to do to fill the gap that quitting made is one of the alternate ways to feel worried and think about the decision you made.
Furthermore, the options you make for yourself don’t need to be a grand idea either but something you can be doing, such as even resting or reading a book. Also, you might already have one, which could have been one of the triggers that made you think about quitting. Otherwise, reflect on what would help you get ready for the next journey and possibly, a short project until you find something new to do.
However, sometimes having something to do after a change that might affect your lifestyle and have an aftereffect can be helpful. Also, if you are wondering what questions to ask yourself when starting something new, check them out here.
Quitting something doesn’t always need to be and sounds like a bad thing as some might consider with the ideas attached to this concept like failures or running away. Sometimes, not quitting something due to fear of quitting and repercussions can be roadblocks to another endeavour and cause aversive effects on your well-being. The chances are that you had done something that you might have to do before and that made you feel unhappy or stressed.
On the other hand, though, repercussions can be more complicated. It could pop up in random thoughts and time, but understanding as best you can why you quit helps reduce the possible impact of quitting. These few questions to ask yourself before you quit something would allow you to reflect on various factors and encourage you to think about the reason for quitting.
Understanding and reflecting on yourself to the intent on why you started in the first place and led you to think about quitting helps to make the best decisions. You might be surprised how taking the time to question and reflect on yourself could lead you to continue what you are doing, possibly more motivated. If you decide to quit, you can know that you took the time to find the reasons and best options from your understanding.