Those who know me well know that I am as stubborn as a mule. They also know that I really hate quitting when the going gets tough; I’d rather power through and prove that I can conquer the world than give up and show signs of weakness. I try to live by this mantra every day. When my friends are facing adversity, I try to transfer my beliefs to them so they too can gain the resiliency to push through whatever situation that they are in. Most of the time, the world tries to bring you down. You need all of the gumption you can get if you want to attack this cruel world and live a happy life.

Sadly, the world is full of hypocrisy as well. We all try to live by these rules and expectations that we set for ourselves, but there are times that we break these rules. We may tell ourselves that we are not going to eat any ice cream or pizza because we want that perfect beach body, but we also like to splurge on pizza and ice cream dates with our friends more often that we would like to admit. We may say that we never talk about others behind their backs, but we all are guilty of snickering at the expense of others frequently. We try to tell ourselves in our minds the rules of how we want to live our lives, but it is extremely rare that we keep to these rules.

This is how it works with quitting. Everyone is told from a very young age that quitting is for losers. If you quit when the going gets tough, you are seen as weak and lazy for not pushing through your troubles. Despite my conventional views on the idea of quitting, I do believe that there are certain instances where you have no choice but to quit.

You have to quit when things start to ruin your self-esteem. If staying in a position is ultimately going to destroy your sense of self-worth and make you feel like absolute crap, you should quit. Whatever you are doing isn’t worth it if you are ultimately going to be unhappy with the person you are. You will be happier with yourself and your best qualities if you get yourself out of the situation you are in.

You have to quit when you have the potential to destroy the well-being of others. You may love what you are doing. You may be holding a position where you have so many personal joys; you may have coworkers you adore, or you may love the people you are serving. However, if your job has the potential to harm those around you, you must quit. Sometimes your happiness needs to take a backseat if you are to be held liable for the harm someone could cause to themselves or others because of your actions.

Finally, you must quit when whatever job you’re doing is a detriment to your own happiness and well-being. If you are putting yourself in harm’s way, you have no other choice but quitting. Whether it be a physical harm or a mental harm, being diligent is so not worth all of the hurt you are going to face in the long run. The initial thought of quitting may make you feel sad and angry, the effects quitting will have on your happiness will be so worth it.

While I always tell others that quitting is letting the enemy win, there are some instances when quitting is the only way that you will emerge victoriously. Sometimes, victories come out of sticking to your guns and pushing through until the hard times are over. However, most of the victories that truly keep people going are the ones that ensure that each person is living the life that they want to live. There is no point in suffering through a task that hurts your wellbeing if you would be much happier doing something else.

Let’s connect quitting back to my analogy of the hypocrisy of dieting for the “perfect beach body.” Some people want to eat only “healthy food” to create this illusion that they are these physically fit machines, but these people ultimately need a little fast food every once and while to make themselves feel happy. This is how It exactly works with quitting. Gumption may be good for the ego, but sometimes you need to quit your “gumption diet” and indulge in a little “self-preservation” cheeseburger in order to keep yourself from being consumed by the world around you.