Quitting, winning and wondering if Vince was wrong.

01 Nov Quitting, winning and wondering if Vince was wrong.

Have you ever heard the Vince Lombardi quote:

“Quitters never win and winners never quit?”

Me too.

In fact, it was on a poster in my high school locker room. The phrase was emblazoned on a classic photo of football player catching a game-winning touchdown pass. I was never good at football… but who doesn’t want to catch that game winning pass… right?

Plus… who doesn’t want to be a winner?

So I took Vince’s advice to heart. I believed that quote and tried to walk it out as often as I could.

But recently, I was introduced to a new take on that quote from author Seth Godin.

In his book, “The Dip,” Seth said Ol’ Vince was wrong.

He countered:

“Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time.”

As an example, Des Moines’ own Shawn Johnson was apparently a really good all-around athlete but she chose to quit those other sports so she could focus on gymnastics. And hey… THAT seemed to work out.

It’s strange but sometimes the way we get to do more of what we’re called to do in life isn’t by starting something.

Sometimes it’s by stopping something.

That’s right. Sometimes the key is quitting.

Now this is easy when the thing we need to quit stinks. For example, in college I worked at a chicken farm… for a DAY. It was BAD fit and I quit. (NOTE: Even though I quit the next day I smelled bad for a week!) Or… I once had a sales job that involved selling products I wasn’t interested in… or proud of. Plus, my manager was an old grump who had a hard time getting in and out of my Toyota Corolla. Yeah… that was easy to quit too.

BUT sometimes we need to quit things we like. Sometimes we need to quit things that are good.

Why?

Because… by quitting… we make room for more of what we’re being called to in new seasons.

That brings us to today.

That’s right.

After 4 years of getting to spend Friday mornings with the awesome team at LIFE 107.1 FM, today was my last day.

It’s been so fun and amazing, it’s hard to imagine that it’s actually been 4 years! I’ve loved doing our 3-minute segments on subjects that help the 107.1 listening audience to dream bigger and achieve more! Plus, I’ve absolutely loved hearing from so many people on how those segments either planted a seed for a big dream, encouraged someone or functioned as a catalyst for taking action.

It’s been great.

But now I’m feeling called into a new season.

I’m wildly blessed to say that our business has grown and is continuing to go in new and exciting directions. As we enter into this season… I’m taking some of Seth’s advice. I’m thinking and praying through what I need to quit, just as much as I’m thinking about what I need to start.

It’s been important process.

The time at 107.1 has been AMAZING… AND… it’s been a huge blessing… AND it’s time to quit.

So… with this post… I really want to do three things.

1 – I want to thank the great team at LIFE 107.1 for the support, love and fun that we’ve had over the past 4 years!

2 – I want to thank the amazing LIFE 107.1 audience for all the encouragement, prayers and high fives! You are the best!

3 – Challenge you think about something you might need to quit.

Seriously… is there something you need to be doing less of… so you can be doing more of something else?

Think about it. Pray about it. See where that question takes you!

And hey… if you want to leave a comment about your thoughts on this subject… we’d love to hear from you!

Keep dreaming big and helping others to do the same,

Mitch