You’re not a quitter, but sometimes quitting equates to winning. While I don’t mean you should quit everything, especially the good things moving forward, I wonder how many activities and ideas we give energy to that break us down rather than build us up? Sometimes the best thing you need is not more goals or resolutions but to create an “I quit” list to stop what holds you back.
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand why you can wish and plan for so many things and yet still fail to see results.
Why does it feel impossible to change? And is it really supposed to be this difficult?
As I searched for answers, I found a similar pattern that happens over and over. Especially in the health space.
Here is what I know. People recognize change that needs to be made, they even plan to make the change, preparing for it, yet the change never happens.
Some call it laziness, but you know it is the exact opposite if you’ve been in this position. Most of the time, you’ve expended so much energy into what it is you’re trying to achieve that you’re exhausted.
You’re burnt to a crisp. Stuck in the same position you started at but with far less energy and a lack of hope.
It’s a terrible place to be. Whether you have been here once or one hundred times, I have an idea that may create the change you’ve been attempting but falling short at.
Why you need this list
Research has shown that change happens more quickly with happiness. Numerous studies have reported that you’re less likely to stick with the change if you don’t like the change. Almost all change you hate, you’ll eventually quit, which gives some answers to why it’s so hard to change.
Could it be that you don’t like the change or the mindset of the change you’re attempting?
If this is the case, you’ll never do it—at least long-term.
Making the answer to change in finding things you enjoy and living aware enough to know what fills you up and what drains you. Because we know the last place change happens is in a burnt-out, exhausted, over-it kind of place.
That’s where an “I quit” list comes into the picture. Not to make you a quitter, but to help you break up with anything that doesn’t serve you or, better said, fill you.
If it’s draining you, even if it’s ‘healthy,’ it’s not helping you. Stressing about healthy things is still stressful, creating a negative outcome making the action a moot point. That’s what we want to avoid.
I declare it’s time to stop wasting energy on things that drain you.
It’s time to break up with things that you hate. Not because you’re a quitter, but because you’re a finisher and the only way you can stay in things is to put your energy into a few things. Meaning you have to let go of some things.
I’ve compiled a list of things to quit. These are things I’ve quit and things other people have quit. Pick a few and verbalize the break-up.
The Ultimate “I Quit” List
- I quit working at night
- I quit being my own worst enemy
- Letting what has happened in the past dictate what will happen in the future
- Living a Pinterest-worthy life
- Food elimination
- Cutting entire macronutrients
- Counting, weighing or measuring your food
- Waiting to buy new jeans until you got to your goal weight
- Being a slave to food and sugar
- Drinking endless coffee
- Comparing your body to someone else’s
- Needing your home to be spotless
- Complaining
- Hitting the snooze button
- The workout you hate
- Believing your body is weak
- Living for the disease
- Trying to be someone you’re not
- Thinking about what you shouldn’t eat
- Powering through exhaustion
- Boredom
- Over-scheduling myself
- Ignoring the sabbath
- Letting my phone control me
- Listening to the negative voice in my head
- Staying up too late when I’m exhausted
- Trying to beat my body into submission
- Putting my worth in the world
The list is endless. I challenge you to make it personal. Write a list of three to five things you want to quit and quit them. Choosing to fill that space with things you enjoy.
Can you imagine what would change if you stopped wasting energy on things that don’t serve you and make room for what does?
Maybe there is more in you doing less?
