This is Why You’ll Quit

If a single critical comment or one harsh word can destroy your supposed motivation, you’ll quit everything you ever start. Hearing a phrase like “this is why you’ll quit” should spark an unquenchable fire inside of you. HA. I’ll show you. That’s what you think. You have no idea who you’re dealing with.

You’ll quit, though.

You’ll quit because you believe in “motivation.” You think there’s a magical feeling that comes shooting into your belly from a big sparkly rainbow. You don’t believe in determination or commitment or choosing things that suck on purpose.

You’ll quit because you believe in “willpower.” You think some people are born with it. You don’t actually want self-discipline or perseverance because you know those take work, more work than you want to put in.

You’ll quit because to keep going would mean waking up early and doing it when you’re tired. You’re tired because you stay up late, pretending you have two lives, and the late-night you doesn’t give two figs about the morning you. You’ll never stop staying up too late, and that’s why you’ll quit.

You’ll quit because you’re always going to choose instant gratification. If someone waves a brownie bite in front of your face, that’s it, you’re done. You’ll fold like an umbrella. You can’t bear the feeling of deprivation that you imagine is worse than your real deprivation. You deprive yourself of your own goals and dreams in favor of entertainments and treats that would impress a five-year-old kid.

You’ll quit because you went for something too far out of your reach. You’ll quit because your ego can’t take being at beginner level. You’ll quit because you can’t stop comparing yourself to other people who have put in months or years or decades of continuous practice. You’ll quit because you’d rather have nothing than having something cool in six months. Or three months.

You’ll quit because three weeks feels like a long time to you.

You’ll quit because your own future self is a perfect stranger to you. You deal with the poor choices that Past You made every single day, but you never realize that you continue to do the same thing. You get in your own way and make your own life harder.

You’ll quit because you’re in love with your television. You’d watch it twelve hours a day if you could find a way to quit sleeping.

You’ll quit because you can’t even choose sleep as a goal, even though it’s free, it feels great, and it makes everything in your day easier and better.

You’ll quit because you think the pain of change is worse than the pain of your status quo.

You’ll quit, and do you know how I know? You started in January. You’ll become a statistic, just like everyone else. If you joined a big gym, they didn’t tell you that their pricing model depends on having 6,000 members, 3,000 of whom literally never show up at all. There’s only room for 300 people to work out at a time. You’re not used to it, you’re put off by everything about that environment, and you’re not willing to budget the time or money to pay for anything else. You’ll quit because they set you up like a sucker.

You’ll quit because it hurts and three minutes of moderate physical pain is too much.

You’ll quit because of the delayed onset muscle soreness. The first time you do enough for your body to start making a difference, you’ll be so tired that you’ll quit before you find out that feeling eventually goes away.

You’ll quit because you always quit before the results have enough time to show up.

You’ll quit because there are no consequences.

You’ll quit because you let yourself off the hook.

You’ll quit because you never made any backup plans.

You’ll quit because you’re a “perfectionist” and that means you care more about weird inner standards than you do about results or performance. The moment something happens and you break your streak, probably by the third week of January, you’ll give up.

You’ll quit because you’d rather have a perfect nothing than an imperfect something.

You’ll quit because you forgot you had even made any kind of commitment in the first place. You are so loose with giving your own word to yourself that you’ll break promises you never really realized you made.

You’ll quit because you have no idea how to make yourself do things.

You’ll quit because it suits your image of yourself. Staying with it would mean redefining who you are, and if that’s someone with grit and determination, well, how are you supposed to recognize that person?

You’ll quit because you believe in personality, not behavior.

You’ll quit because you don’t care about your goal, not that much, not really.

You’ll quit because you always do.

You’ll quit because you take criticism personally and you actually let it inside of you. A single sentence will do it, one word, one facial expression, or part of a hint of one.

You’ll quit because continuing would take more approval and applause than the world is prepared to give, to anyone, for anything.

You’ll quit even though you paid good money to do it.

If you had it within you to do things you didn’t like, when you weren’t in the mood, you’d find that you could keep going.

If you knew you would never give a commitment you weren’t prepared to keep, come fire or flood, you’d look at your reflection in the mirror differently.

If you treated your future as if it mattered, you’d keep going.

If you were patient and humble enough to do tiny steps, one day at a time, you’d get there.

If you started taking next year as seriously as you take your next meal, you’d win every time.

If you heard someone say to you, “I know you are going to quit,” and it made you laugh deep inside, you’d never quit anything at all.

Well, which is it? Am I right or am I wrong?