Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Why Quitting May Be Good for You
Association for Psychological Science: "Are there times when it is better to simply give up? Psychologists have been exploring this question, and more specifically a possible link between tenacity and both physical and mental health."
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7 comments:
Though short this article says a lot that is important and useful to me. I think it's critical, especially when in a school like CMU, to have the ability to bounce back from a "failure" with the means to better yourself for the next time. I feel that a lot of students tend to dwell on things like slightly lower grades than expected or difficult projects that weren't approached well. Though I feel it is easier to do this, taking all that you can from something "bad" is really the best way to deal with a situation because the only thing worse would be to make that same mistake again and re-suffer the "consequences."
Sometimes it is important to realize boundaries. Especially in our business, limits can be difficult to reach. It's true that persisting could simply be frustrating. In the end knowing limitations is what can benefit us more.
I totally agree that 'quitting may be good for you' towards the goal of higher quality output. A recent example was working on the PM1 season bugdet. Starting early gave me the allowance to quit when i became frustrated, and come back to it later. And the assignment gets to stir around in your head between formal working times. If you dont give yourself the opportunity to quit and recover from the work, you wouldnt be able to step back to the plate and push harder later.
In my general mindset right now, in most cases, for myself at least, I am almost completely opposed to giving up. There are plenty of times when I've almost felt like that was the best thing to do, but because of my insane drive, I don't give up, and then end up succeeding. I think if we start accepting limitations to readily, creativity disappears and great things will never happen. Sometimes you have to push yourself to or even past what you thought was your breaking point. Then you realize you had much more in you. Yes - I'll agree with everything about being able to bounce back from failure, and breaking from something to come back better later, but to give up completely - that is something I could never do. Now I know there are exceptions to this, but that relates directly to the part about giving up one thing, then immediately picking something else up and being just as driven and psyched for that. Once you actually do fail - okay let it go, sometimes. But sometimes that failure was just a need to put it aside for a little bit and come back and conquer it later. So maybe my mindset is wrong, and maybe I'll need to learn that just because I make a goal and want something so desperately doesn't mean that I'm going to get it or succeed, but overall it's served me well so far, with those few times where I just need to alter my goals and find a new approach that is better, cuz I was just wrong originally. But enough rambling. Gotta go make my dreams a reality or something :-p.
No one likes to give up be it whatever it is. It brings about many emotions and feelings that no one wants to feel. But at some point there is a nessity to let something go. It's hard to imagine just giving up, but it makes us realize our limitations so in the future we will follow the same road again. Most the times staying with a project till you finally pull through is comes to be, but in those cases where it is not it gives us relif to know that we don't have to deal with that stress with has been haunting us. And with the new relif we might be able to see the project in a new light to help us get back on track.
Okay - not a change of heart - but juts an after thought or something after sleeping on this and...um other circumstances in a certain situation. When you get to the point that you can't remember why you're trying so hard or why you're even trying at all - maybe that's the time to give up.
I am not sure whether or not quitting is a good or bad thing, but I feel like experimenting with this is somewhat a shot in the dark. I see why it is fascinating, but I feel like at this point, it would be easier to ask what doesn't cause diabetes, or high blood pressure, or whatever health issue you choose to name. I think that it isn't a matter of quitting, but it is definitely, for me anyway, a matter of knowing when to step back and take a break. I have had many instances where I become so worried about something, or so involved, that I can't get out, and it just takes over my mind. In those situations, it is important to not tell yourself you are giving up, because that could lead to negative feelings associated with the situation. Instead, once again, step back, take a few breaths, and see if there is something you can do that is less direct. Although hard for me, I know it is important to remember your own health, as well as what you are dealing with.
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