Thread by @SusanDavid_PhD

Grit is overrated.

Yes, grit is extremely important, but so is adaptability.

It’s crucial to identify when to grit and when to quit.

If you’re making choices genuinely aligned with your values, there may come a time when the only smart thing to say is “enough is enough.”

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It’s often difficult to let go of a longtime goal without feeling like a failure.

But when you view yourself through a lens of self-compassion, this process of reevaluation and adaptation takes on a different light.

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Then quitting becomes the opposite of failure: a new opportunity to redirect your energy toward things of greatest importance to you.

Here are some questions to ask.

- Am I enjoying or finding satisfaction in what I’m doing—perhaps not every second, but overall?

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- Is what I am doing a reflection of what is truly important to me?

- Do I spend most days using what I am good at in pursuit of my goal?

- In my gut, do I believe I can be successful in meeting my goal? (Context matters!)

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- Have I changed or has the situation changed such that gritting is no longer wise or values-aligned?

- In sticking with this plan, what opportunities that I might find exciting or interesting or important, am I passing up? Am I okay missing out on those?

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There is ample research suggesting that cultivating the ability to walk away from existing goals (due to health, lack of hoped-for resources, skills that despite practice never developed, etc) in order to pursue alternative goals, can be courageous, smart and strategic.

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Grit needs to hold hands with the ever-changing context of our lives, especially over the long term. We need to lift the stigma of quitting under these circumstances, so that doing so can be rightfully seen as adaptive and embraced with grace and dignity.