You should just quit.
Seriously.
That thought creeps in more often than people admit. The voice whispers: “Stop wasting your time. Stop embarrassing yourself. Stop trying to be something you’re clearly not.”
And for a while—I believed it.
I know what it feels like to quit, not in the way people think of quitting, but in the slow, quiet, deadly way. I quit piece by piece, until I didn’t recognize myself anymore.
I quit fighting with my ex. Every time he told me what I should or shouldn’t be doing, I stopped pushing back. He told me who I should be, and eventually I gave in. He told me how wrong I was about everything, and I started to believe him. When every problem in our lives became my fault, I quit arguing.
But it didn’t stop there.
I quit believing in myself.
I quit thinking my opinion mattered.
I quit standing up for myself.
I quit thinking I was ever going to be more than what he told me I was.
For years, I walked with my head down, shrinking into the background. I told myself it was easier that way—less fighting, less disappointment, less conflict. I convinced myself that silence was strength when really it was survival.
But deep inside, a small, stubborn spark refused to die. A whisper told me: “He’s wrong. This is not who you are.”
And eventually, I quit again.
But this time, I quit different things.
I quit being quiet.
I quit thinking he knew better than me.
I quit hiding in the background.
I quit taking the blame for every problem he created.
And when I did that, something shifted. My life didn’t suddenly become easy, but it became mine again.
That’s the lesson I carry now: sometimes quitting is the bravest thing you can do—but only if you’re quitting the right things.
Quit the Wrong Things
Quit believing them when they say you’re not smart enough, funny enough, or pretty enough.
Quit believing the lie that you have nothing valuable to say.
Quit letting other people decide what success looks like for you.
Quit being afraid of disappointing people who don’t even live with the consequences of your choices.
You know what disappointment really is? It’s other people realizing you won’t carry the weight of their expectations anymore. And that’s not your burden to carry.
Quit being told what to believe and who to be. Quit accepting someone else’s version of right and wrong without ever asking the hard questions for yourself.
Read. Learn. Grow. Test things. Fail at things. Discover truth for yourself.
Because no great thing was ever achieved by following the herd. No world-changer ever got there by doing only what they were told. And no dream worth chasing was ever handed out with approval stamps from everyone around them.
Quit Being Stuck
Be bold.
Want to go back to school? Do it.
Want to change careers? Start working toward it.
Want a better relationship? Work on it.
Want big things to happen? Take steps.
Stop being afraid of what people will say, think, or do. Your life is not their vote to cast.
Show your children how to fail and grow with grace. Show them determination, not defeat. Show them what it looks like to build, to stumble, and to keep moving.
Quit thinking you’re stuck with no way out.
It may not all change in a day, but it will change if you stop waiting for permission and start acting on conviction.
Yes, there will be moments when you question yourself. Yes, you’ll doubt the path. But questioning isn’t failure—it’s proof you’re alive, moving, and taking risks worth taking.
Quit complaining about your marriage and start doing something about it.
Quit complaining about being unhappy in your job and start doing something about it.
Complaining keeps you safe, but it also keeps you stuck. Change requires courage. And courage requires action.
Quit on the Lies, Not on Yourself
Let me be clear: quitting isn’t the end of you. Quitting the wrong things is often the very beginning.
When I quit letting someone else define me, I started to find my voice again. When I quit believing I was worthless, I started to stand taller. When I quit taking the blame for problems that weren’t mine, I began to see clearly who I really was.
That voice that says quit—maybe it’s not your enemy after all. Maybe it’s your reminder that you’re wasting energy in the wrong place. That you’ve been pouring yourself into someone else’s approval, someone else’s definition of success, someone else’s rules for what life should look like.
And maybe it’s time to finally redirect that energy where it belongs. Into building something that’s yours. Into proving yourself to yourself, not to them. Into showing up in a way that feels like freedom, not prison.
So yes, quit.
Quit being small.
Quit staying silent.
Quit believing you’re not enough.
Quit carrying the weight of other people’s expectations.
Quit being led down a path that was never meant for you.
And while you’re at it—quit listening to the lie that quitting means you’ve failed.
Because real failure isn’t quitting the wrong things. Real failure is living a whole life and never daring to quit the lies that kept you stuck.
Journal Prompts
- Where in your life have you already quit—and was it out of weakness, or was it the first step toward freedom?
- What voices are you still believing that say you’re “not enough”—and why do they hold so much power over you?
- What’s one thing you need to quit believing today to finally take back your own life?
- If you weren’t afraid of disappointing anyone, what would you quit doing tomorrow?
- Whose rules are you still living by, and what would change if you wrote your own?
- What step toward change have you been postponing because you’re waiting for permission that will never come?