Sometimes it's OK to quit.

Twice in my life, I’ve stayed in careers after they stopped serving me.

Both had felt right at one time but didn't anymore. And the hardest thing was giving myself permission to stop.

After all, “persistence is a virtue” and “quitting is failure”.

And there are times when that is true. And sometimes persistence becomes a prison.

Knowing when to stop is as important as knowing when to persist.

It's not about giving up at the first sign of difficulty. It's about recognising when you're persisting out of stubbornness, ego, fear, or sunk cost, rather than genuine commitment to where you're heading.

There's a difference between pushing through a difficult phase and staying in something that's fundamentally wrong for you.

The work I do isn't about encouraging people to quit or stay. It's about helping them get clear on what they're persisting for. And sometimes, that clarity reveals they're holding onto something that no longer aligns with who they are or what they actually want.

Giving yourself permission to move on isn't failure. It's honesty.

It's saying: "This made sense once. It doesn't anymore. And I'm allowed to choose differently."

The time you invested isn't wasted if it taught you something. Even if what it taught you is that this isn't your path anymore.

So if you're persisting at something that feels more like a prison than a pursuit, ask yourself: am I staying because this still matters to me? Or am I staying because I can't give myself permission to stop?

Because persistence is valuable. But so is knowing when to let go.

Sometimes it's OK to quit.