ACCEPTANCE
Stake claim on your sense of agency and call time on the things that no longer serve you, writes Yasmina Floyer
We are never short of messaging that tells us to keep going. It surrounds us, from the classic cat poster telling us to ‘Hang in there’ to wartime slogans extolling us to ‘Keep calm and carry on’, right through to our favourite movies (‘Goonies never say die!’). It’s a thread running through so many of the stories we were brought up on. Time and again, they depict a hero’s journey centred around a pivotal moment when, against the odds, our seemingly defeated protagonist perseveres and triumphs, like Rocky, who bloodied and battered, gets back up. These characters stoically persevere in the face of defeat, exhaustion, and being outnumbered. So what excuse do we have to throw in the towel?
It’s a message I’ve swallowed from a young age. I’m loathe to admit it, but when I was a young, hungry graduate working for a London theatre company, I negatively judged a co-worker who would turn up to and leave work bang on time.
‘Look at her! The lack of dedication!’ I thought, as I stayed at my desk and continued to work for free, having arrived to work that day and worked for free before anyone else showed up. Because ‘first one in, last one out’ meant I was committed and would have a successful career, right? Looking back now, my ex-colleague was way ahead of her time. The ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘lazy girl job’ trends have both gone viral this year, endorsing the idea of not going above and beyond for your job, clearly delineating the boundary between work life and personal life. Looking back, my colleague’s proto ‘quiet quitting’ may well have helped her to avoid burnout and quitting her job altogether.
That said, I wouldn’t have a career as a writer if I gave up at the first sign of rejection; I understand the value of determination and tenacity. Having a ‘don’t quit’ attitude has helped me to achieve goals that once seemed impossible. But the term ‘quitting’ is so loaded, and it’s there the problem lies. It is synonymous with giving up, with not trying hard enough, not wanting it enough – not being enough. It is understandable, then, that when faced with the idea of quitting something, many of us default to sticking at it, instead, because ‘not quitting’ feels like the noble, virtuous thing to do. Despite this, I do believe there are times in our lives when quitting is not only a good thing, but essential. Emma Gannon, author of The Success Myth (Torva, £16.99), agrees. This year, she decided to call time on her immensely popular Ctrl Alt Delete podcast after six years, at the height of its success.
‘I also grew up with the mentality that “quitters never win”, that we should keeping pushing, keep trying – which sounds good, but with that you run the risk
