The Weekly Three, 2/13/24: When quitting just means revising.
This-or-that thinking says “quitters never win,” but when does sticking it out actually hurt our chances of reaching our goals?
Is quitting actually all that bad? This week, our ideas about what it means to quit and what it means to persevere are challenged. Unfavorable outcomes might be making you feel defensive, but what exactly are you defending? Make sure it’s the right thing for the context you’re in right now.
Welcome to The Weekly Three! Each Monday, I share a three-card Tarot spread to help you focus your intuitive energy in real life, and take action with intention inside your business.
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In The Cards: Defending the fort come hell or high water.
The X of Swords is finality at its finalest. It’s a somewhat painful end that hurts, yes, but also promises the dawning of a better day. You can think of this card as a final nail in the coffin on something that’s been running circles in your head. The number ten in Tarot is interesting because it signals an end as well as a beginning. There’s something here asking you about the next cycle even if, in this moment, it just feels like a rug being pulled out from under you.
The VI of Wands reversed is like rain on your parade. A victory goes unrealized, your support system seems to be MIA or you’ve fallen off the horse. The generative outcome your were hoping for just doesn’t come through and it might feel like someone came and dumped water on your flame.
The VII of Wands seems like a natural response to the last two cards. There’s active defense here, and it’s defense of something that matters a LOT to you. Whether it’s a passion project, an entrepreneurial endeavor or a creative idea, it’s not something you’re willing to back down on.
In Between: Knowing when to say when (and what to say it to…)
There’s this idea that quitting means that you, like, FULLY give the fuck up and never think about a thing again. But does it have to?…
In his book The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)*, Seth Godin writes:
Most of the time, we deal with the obstacles by persevering. Sometimes we get discouraged and turn to inspirational writing, like stuff from Vince Lombardi: “Quitters never win and winners never quit.” Bad advice. Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.
Sure, sometimes quitting means you just walk away and never look back.
Other times quitting means you just stop doing the thing that isn’t working and try a slightly different thing that actually might. The this-or-that thinking that leads us to regard quitting as the biggest, most final end ever can also be the thing that keeps us from actually achieving what we’re trying to achieve.
When we care about something, quitting can feel like failure, defeat and shame. But when we look at quitting as part of the process in achieving our goals, we’re able to “say when” with intention and purpose.
Our experiences—whether good, bad or somewhere in between—add up to information. When we look at it within the context of our actions and goals, that information can tell us something.
What is the information telling you right now?
And in your defensiveness, might you be holding onto something that isn’t actually serving you anymore? It’s possible to defend the idea without holding onto the current methodology. It’s possible to change your mind without considering it a defeat. It’s possible to try something new without feeling shame about releasing the old.
In Your Business: Defend the substance rather than the surface.
If you’ve got a process, a model, a package, a message, a method, an idea, a structure that has shown itself not to be working the way you need it to: this is your green light to drop it and do something different.
That doesn’t necessarily mean burning everything down and starting from scratch though.
This week, go back to the heart of what you’re trying to do. What’s the intention behind what you’re trying to do and why does that matter? Now think about ALL THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT COULD EXIST FOR YOU. I promise you there’s more than one, and definitely more than you thought at first.
Defend the substance of what you’re intending to generate rather than feeling married to the surface ways in which that substantial outcome might be achieved. Weigh your options. Dream of new paths to your future. “We’ve always done it this way” doesn’t need to be carved on your tombstone.
Remember: “Winners quit all the time.”
Until next week,
Zoha
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About The Author:
Zoha Abbas is a writer, Intuitive Tarot Reader and Business Coach who aims to explore the small business conversations around self-trust, critical thinking, reality checks and forging your (not so straight) path to success in the grey-area of real life. She is the CEO and Creator of The Ownership Method, a coaching practice where she helps fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners do business better through data, divination and dismantling harmful systems.
For inquiries, please email: zoha@theownershipmethod.com