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Hello and go Team Canada.
Like many Canadians across the country, the Olympics have me feeling inspired. It’s been two full weeks of watching some of our greatest athletes persevere and show resilience, and there is a lot we can learn from their tenacity.
When listening to post-competition interviews, we are often led to believe that the key to their success is that they had the fight to not give up. It is impressive, but sometimes, even for top athletes and especially for us mere mortals, quitting makes more sense.
When it comes to athletics, some Canadians in Paris have stopped a sport they were very good at to focus on a different sport and as a result reach even higher heights. For example, Avalon Wasteneys, who won silver in Paris and gold in Tokyo in rowing, was a top cross-country skier in the junior ranks before needing a change of pace and trying rowing to pursue her Olympic dream. Or Kelsey Mitchell, who played varsity soccer and then went on to win gold in Tokyo in cycling and finished eighth in Paris. These athletes and others didn’t give up on their dreams to compete at a high level, but they had to stop doing one thing and refocus their efforts.
When it comes to work, there are certainly times when this is beneficial, but those times aren’t always easy to identify.
Author and business expert Frank Sonnenberg advocates for moral character, personal values and personal responsibility, and has consulted to some of the largest companies in the world. He writes quitting doesn’t always make you a quitter. Here are a few reasons why you should do it:
- You’re getting stagnant: When you’re not learning or growing in your career, it might be time to throw in the towel so you can find another opportunity to grow.
- You’re compromising your standards: If you’ve found yourself participating in behaviour that you find unethical – whether that be shady business practices or treating others unfairly – just to impress others or keep the peace, find your exit.
- You’re afraid to do it: You can’t achieve your true potential in your comfort zone. When quitting seems scary, that could be the best time to do it.
- Not wanting to be labelled a quitter: You should be more concerned with achieving the objective than saving face.
“The truth is that quitting is not always a sign of weakness, but rather a strategic decision to redirect your efforts toward more meaningful and positive pursuits,” he writes in his blog.
Annie Duke is a best-selling author, corporate speaker and consultant in the decision-making space. She says that “quit” shouldn’t be a dirty word, and shares some advice on when to know it’s time to walk away:
- You’re 50/50 on quitting or persevering. If you find yourself in the position where you’re weighing whether it’s the right decision to quit or push through, quitting often makes people happier.
- You’re worried about self image. If one of your top concerns about quitting is what other people will think of you, or that you may no longer have a high-status job, you may need to re-evaluate how you’re making the decision and quit.
“When it comes to quitting, the most painful thing to quit is who you are,” she writes in her book, Quit.
Fast fact
The vacation burden
Eighty-four per cent of workers agree that summer flex policies help reduce burnout, but 30 per cent say they can’t take advantage of them because of workload.
Summer Fridays and flexible work hours sound great – if you can actually take advantage of them. With an uptick of vacations in the summer, companies need to implement proper policies to reduce stress and increase productivity for those who are still working.
Career guidance
Starting a new career after 50
Executive coach and career consultant Kadine Cooper says the first step in the journey is making sure that you take time to reflect on what you’re passionate about and what you value. Use that as a guide when deciding which opportunity to take.
Quoted
Coming home … eventually
“I will return to Canada soon enough – there are career opportunities and relationships that lure me back. How I’ll be able to afford that return is less certain,” writes Globe contributing columnist Rob Csernyik. He argues millennials are travelling because they can’t afford to settle down.
On our radar
The labour market
Tension is building as the unemployment rate in Canada rises and employers are ramping up the recruitment of low-wage workers through the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program. During the first quarter of 2024, employers received government approval to hire nearly 30,000 people, which is 25 per cent more than a year earlier.