Not that quitting is necessarily bad. A poor fit in a job, an opportunity to move ahead in a different organization, physical illness or injury - all can be good reasons for quitting.
But there is another type of quitting that isn't so good. Cormac McCarthy, in his new bestseller The Road, has a quote that describes what I'm talking about. "When your dreams are of a world that never was or never will be and you are happy again, you will have given up."
What does that mean? Here's my interpretation. Dreams are funny things. They can inspire us, they can create successes. They can be a beacon for moving forward. They can lead to goals, action and accomplishment
But they can also be the source of false hope. When you catch yourself dreaming about what could have been, what should have been, or what might be, and those dreams occupy your mind, and you feel good about them - but no real action is taken to make them happen, you are in the act of quitting - of giving up.
Examples would be the person who dreams of winning the Lottery as the means to financial salvation, while continuing to dig a deeper financial hole for themselves. Or the sales person dreaming about how great it will be when he has new clients, but isn't doing the hard work of cold calling. Or the writer who dreams of her great novel and how good it will feel, but doesn't do the writing. Or the student who dreams of being a doctor, but doesn't do the academic work to get into college.
Rudyard Kipling, in his poem, IF, says, "If you can dream, but not let dreams become your master." What a perfect description of where dreams belong in our lives.
But often dreams do become our masters. It happens when they substitute for accomplishment and action. It happens when they allow us to feel good about the past, the present or the future, without having to deal with reality. And so we feel happy. And we've quit. And we probably don't even know it!
It's a habit of thought - this act of dreaming. That's good. Habits of thought can be worked with - replaced with new habits. It's hard, but success lies in self discipline, and the application of our considerable resources. Dreams without action take away from our bank of resources - they divert resources to what never was and never will be. It's like making a withdrawal with no value - like destroying our personal resources.
Review your own habits of thought. Ask yourself three questions: Do your dreams focus on the future - do they build on what has already happened - do they inspire you to action? If you can answer yes to those questions, good for you. If you answered no, focus your mental energies on the dreams that can happen - the world of possibilities. You can save a little corner of your thoughts and dreams for the improbable, but get to the place where your dreams result in yes answers to those three questions. You will achieve more, and who knows, those improbable dreams of the future may become more probable.
Written by Andrew Cox, President
Cox Consulting Group, 4049 E Vista Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85032 Ph: 602-795-4100; Fax: 602-795-4800; E Mail: acox@coxconsultgroup.com; Website: http://www.coxconsultgroup.com/
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