It’s been over five years, and I still think about it.

The brand. The logo. The events that brought good people together over good food and even better conversation. It was fun. It was local. It was something the community loved. I loved it.

And I wasn’t doing it alone. I had partners, great ones. Talented, creative, and committed. The kind of people who show up with ideas, sleeves rolled up, ready to build something real. That’s what made walking away so hard.

Quitting Isn’t Failure

This wasn’t some solo experiment I quietly shelved. This was a shared vision. A team effort. A dream that other people believed in, too.

But deep down, I knew it wasn’t working, not in the way we needed it to. Not in a way that could sustain our lives, our families, or the level of effort it took to keep it alive. We gave it everything we had. And for a while, that was enough. Until it wasn’t.

So I made the call. We made the call. And I stepped away from something I had poured myself into with people I respected and genuinely liked. That’s not just tough. It’s gut-wrenching. Especially when your ego starts whispering, “But people liked it. What if you just pushed a little harder? Had one more meeting over sliders at that spot with the inappropriate menus?”

However, the truth was that no amount of branding magic or bourbon-fueled brainstorming was going to solve the fact that the business model didn’t work.

And yet, here I am, five years later, still catching myself drifting into the land of what-ifs. What if we had pivoted sooner? What if we’d kept going?

But I finally understood something that took me too long and a few burnouts to admit:

There’s a difference between perseverance and punishment.

We’re taught to stick things out. To hustle harder. To glorify the grind until our passion projects turn into part-time prisons. But at some point, you have to stop confusing stubbornness for strength.

Because sometimes the bravest, smartest, most strategic thing you can do is let go of something that once felt right but no longer is.

And don’t get me wrong. I didn’t come to this realization right away. It hit me mid-trip while staring at an old tote bag from one of our launch events. My daughter now uses it as a snack bag, and I just stood there thinking that was a good thing… but it wasn’t the right thing.

So let’s talk about that. Let’s talk about quitting, not as a failure but as a form of freedom. Let’s explore what it means to pivot with intention rather than simply pushing through on autopilot.

Because chances are, you’ve got something you’re holding onto right now that deep down, you know, isn’t it?

Quitting Isn’t Always a Collapse, Sometimes It’s a Course Correction

Look, I’m a fan of grit. I love a good underdog story. I’ve worn the badge of “just push through” more times than I’d like to admit. However, when grit is misapplied, it becomes a liability.

We treat quitting like it’s a character flaw. The only acceptable way to end something is with a finish line and a trophy. But here’s the truth: most successful people won’t admit right away that quitting, when it’s done right, is a skill.

Every pivot I’ve made that moved me forward started with an honest quit.

Leaving a dead-end job. Ditching a product idea that didn’t resonate. Canceling a webinar that no longer made sense for our audience. Ending a client relationship that was profitable but energy-draining.

Those decisions didn’t feel like a failure. They felt like freedom. Because quitting, when done well, is not giving up. It’s letting go of something that no longer aligns so you can move toward something that does.

And if you’re brave enough to be honest with yourself, you already know what needs to go.

What If You Gave Yourself Permission to Pivot?

Let me paint a picture. You’re sitting at your desk. The coffee’s already cold. You’re staring at a task that makes your soul sigh audibly. It’s been on your list for weeks. You’ve rescheduled it three times. It’s now color-coded red, underlined, and bolded, yet still collecting dust.

The problem? It’s not hard. It’s just wrong. Wrong for where you are. Wrong for what you want. Wrong for who you’re becoming.

But you keep pushing. Why?

Because quitting feels like breaking a promise to your past self.

But what if that’s exactly what you need to do?

Your past self didn’t know what you know now. They couldn’t see the opportunities or constraints ahead. And you don’t owe them your burnout.

You owe your future self a shot at something better.

So here’s a radical thought: quit with pride. Pivot with purpose. Instead of dragging your old plans through every new season, take a minute and ask:

● Is this still aligned with where I’m headed?

● Is this giving me energy or draining it?

● Am I continuing because it’s working, or just because I said I would?

Quitting Isn’t a Weakness. It’s a Reallocation of Courage.

Here’s where things get interesting. The same courage it takes to stick it out is the courage it takes to walk away. The same bravery required to chase a dream is the bravery required to change one. We just don’t celebrate that version enough.

We’re drawn to stories of endurance, the hero who pushes through the pain, beats the odds, sleeps four hours a night, drinks celery juice, and cold-calls a thousand prospects to build an empire. And sure, those stories have their place. But they’re not the only kind of courage worth recognizing.

There’s another story that rarely gets airtime. It’s the one where someone realizes they’re climbing the wrong mountain and chooses to find a new one. Not because they weren’t tough enough to keep going but because they were wise enough to stop. Because they refused to waste another year proving they could power through something that no longer fit.

That’s not weakness. That’s wisdom. And when we normalize that kind of pivot, we create space for more people to pursue work that genuinely excites them, not just work that appears successful from the outside.

Not Everything That Feels Hard Is Worth Finishing

Here’s another nuance we don’t talk about enough: not all resistance is bad. Sometimes, when you hit a wall, it’s because you’re growing. You’re stretching into something new, and the discomfort is part of the process. But other times, that wall isn’t there to be climbed. It’s there to tell you you’re going the wrong way.

The tricky part is learning to distinguish between them.

Hard can be healthy when it has meaning. When the effort you’re putting in feels aligned, even if it’s challenging, you’re probably in a growth zone. But if the hard feels hollow, if the work feels lifeless and draining, no matter how much energy you pour into it, you might be stuck in a grind loop instead.

Pay attention to the pattern. The kind of hard that sharpens you feels very different than the kind that slowly wears you down.

You Don’t Need to Burn Bridges, Just Build Better Ones

Quitting doesn’t have to be dramatic. You don’t need to rage-post your departure or give a play-by-play of your decision in a long-winded group text. You’re allowed to exit without the fireworks. In fact, some of the strongest exits are the quiet, grounded ones that come with clarity and respect.

You can walk away thoughtfully. With gratitude for what it taught you. With appreciation for the season it served. Just because something isn’t right now doesn’t mean it wasn’t right then. It doesn’t have to be a failure. It can simply be finished.

And walking away doesn’t mean you’re walking backward. It means you’re choosing direction over obligation. You’re choosing alignment over autopilot.

So give yourself permission to say it: “That served its purpose. And now I’m ready for what’s next.”

Because letting go isn’t burning a bridge. It’s building a better one. One that leads you where you actually want to go.

Your Next Chapter Deserves Alignment, Not Apology

Quitting is not the opposite of success. It’s part of the process. The evolution. The wisdom to know when something no longer fits and the courage to take it off anyway.

It’s the pause that lets you breathe. The space between chapters where you get to ask, “What am I really building here?” It’s how we recalibrate when we realize the map we’ve been following doesn’t lead where we want to go anymore.

So if something in your world feels heavy, misaligned, or just off, don’t just dig in and grind harder. Get curious. Ask the deeper questions. You might find that quitting isn’t the end of your ambition. It’s the beginning of your clarity.

You don’t owe your past goals a lifetime subscription. You owe your future self a shot at better alignment.

This is your invitation to quit with clarity. To pivot with purpose. To stop glorifying hard for hard’s sake and start choosing what actually fits who you are now.

Because sometimes the best way to win… is to walk away.

And as for that tote bag? It’s still in rotation. Still showing up in snack runs and road trips. It’s a small reminder that not everything we walk away from disappears. Sometimes, the best parts live on in different forms, in lessons, in memories, even in your kid’s Goldfish carrier. That old brand? It mattered. And even though we let it go, it still found a way to stick around. Just not as a business. And that’s okay. That’s the pivot. That’s the point.