You’re not the same person you were yesterday. New experiences shape what you believe and mold your preferences over time.
For this reason, it’s very possible that what you studied in college won’t be what you still want to do five years after graduation. Early specialization is like career planning for someone who doesn’t even exist yet.
In the context of your career, test and learn is a better strategy than plan and implement.
A test and learn approach is okay with quitting. Because when you try new things, it’s inevitable that you’ll discover what you dislike. Sometimes quitting is acknowledging that a better opportunity for you exists somewhere else.
Please don’t mistake this as advice to quit when things get difficult or stop being fun. Perseverance and grit are necessary traits for success. But it’s possible to have too much of a good thing.
Perseverance for the sake of perseverance can get in the way of your ability to find the right career match.
Persevering through difficulty is a competitive advantage for any traveler of a long road, but … knowing when to quit is such a big strategic advantage that every single person, before undertaking an endeavor, should enumerate conditions under which they should quit. The important trick … is staying attuned to whether switching is simply a failure of perseverance, or astute recognition that better matches are available.
From the book Range by David Epstein
The pursuit of a goal with resilience and determination works great when that goal is clear and straightforward.
But when you’re still navigating the start of an uncertain career, quitting isn’t always an admission of defeat.
Sometimes it’s your best move forward.
FOOTNOTES
- This post was inspired by the book Range written by David Epstein.
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