The Dip
My boss's boss's boss lent me a really neat little book called The Dip: The Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) today. It's a short book, and I just finished reading it. What a very interesting little book. It's about why the advice "never quit" is bad advice, and how quitting can actually be an intelligent strategy.
Never quit?
Never quit wetting your bed? Never quit your high school job at Burger King? Never quit funding and marketing an obsolete product?
The bottom line is that quitting something as a short-term strategy is a bad idea, but quitting for the long-term is an excellent idea. In the words of the author: Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can't deal with the stress of the moment.
The book teaches you how to recognize situations that you should quit, and those that you should stick out for the reward on the other side. It's about quitting the right stuff at the right time. Not only does it help you realize when to quit and when to stick, but it helps you to learn to be more thoughtful and choosier about which journeys you start in the first place.
I highly recommend reading it.