Fail More, Quit Less
Most of us never reach failure because we quit first. We take the exit ramp the moment people start watching and commenting.
I became an amateur drummer in 2nd grade. My family went to the county fair and I won a wooden cane at the ring-toss booth. I brought it home, sawed it in half, and voila! I had a pair of drumsticks. We went through more than a few footstools in our living room over the next three years because I constantly drummed while watching TV, slowly tearing up the furniture.
In 5th grade I got my chance to be a real drummer. I joined the school band, got a snare drum, and quickly became first chair. I loved it. It was a dream come true.
The only problem was I had to lug my drum to school every day. I couldn’t keep it there. The case was clunky and heavy. Kids on the bus made fun of me. I felt silly and embarrassed. It was awkward carrying it around, and their constant teasing sapped my joy of being a drummer.
Meanwhile the trumpet players had these light cases. They looked cool carrying theirs around and no one bothered them.
So, what did I do? I took the exit ramp. I quit drums and switched to trumpet.
Looking back, I realize how quickly I gave up something I actually loved because I didn’t want to be teased. What a crappy excuse to quit on a dream.
Quitting made me comfortable, but it also cost me something. It cost me the chance to grow into what I wanted to be, not because I lacked ability, but because I lacked the courage to stand under other people’s opinions. I’m not a drummer today because I quit. Not because I failed.
Everyone has a quitting point and a failure point. The quitting point is always closest. The failure point is always further out. Most of us never reach failure because we quit first.
And that’s a problem because failure is where growth happens.
Quitting keeps you comfortable, but it also keeps you average. You stay in the same place. Same weights. Same reps. Same fears. The road forward is always paved with meaningful failures. Quitting is the exit ramp to someplace else.
Now, not all quitting is bad. Sometimes quitting is wisdom. You quit because you learned it’s not your calling. Or not your season. Or it’s not serving anyone well, including you.
But most of the time we quit to get out from under other people’s opinions. We quit because we’re afraid of rejection, criticism, or looking stupid while we’re becoming better.
That’s the quitting point. And it has nothing to do with ability.
A lot of quitting happens because we’d rather stay average than be seen failing on the way to becoming who we want to become. God isn’t worried about you failing. The only thing He asks is that you keep showing up.
The road forward is paved with failures. Quitting is the exit ramp. So here's a question for us today: Where am I taking the exit instead of pushing through to what's on the other side?