From as early as we can remember, we are told, "Quitters never win. Winners never quit."
The phrase, as cliche as it is, has been ramrodded into the American psyche because of our history of tenacity and vigilance.
Is that really true? Think about it. Is there ever a point in our lives when it is okay to give up or throw in the towel?
Americans need to learn to be better quitters. However, that is not to say people should forgo their labors and investments when everything goes south.
Persistence should be heralded as a virtue. It paves the way for innovation and progress, but eventually, some pursuits should be left by the curb with the rest of the trash.
As any musician would tell you about tempo, quitting is all about the perfect timing.
Economists refer to the investment and time spent on a particular project, whatever that may be, as the "sunk cost." This concept also goes hand in hand with "opportunity cost," which is the loss of potential benefits that could have been received if you had chosen alternative ventures other than those pet projects to which you have been devoting your entire life to.
Businesses do this when they try to develop new technologies and innovations in their respective fields. They develop hundreds of ideas but use only two if they are lucky.
Great businesses know when to cut and run. Why would you spend all of your energy and time on something that will not work out.
To be candid, I am the biggest quitter I know. If I do not like something or, if after a while, I decide that crunching a bunch of numbers is not for me, I drop it faster than if my hands were on fire.
Growing up playing baseball taught me how much I do not have patience for being unproductive. Baseball is slow and boring, and I simply do not care about filling a position in the outfield on the off-chance a ball might come my way.
Unfortunately, my mother would not let me quit until I reached the age of 14, which I did not appreciate because my once-naive love of sports had long since been six feet under.
In a tournament, the coach benched me and my brother. We played outfield once in an inning; that was the extent of our play time. It embarrassed me. I was being forced to play baseball, which consisted of me being forced to watch other kids play baseball.
I did not understand the reason I was here - to learn persistence or work ethic?
My brother and I quit the next day. Thankfully, an understanding and loving mother let that happen. She spearheaded the move.
I could not have been happier. My brother reciprocated the feeling. No more wasted afternoons of playing catch on the field. Naturally, I allocated my time to more pressing matters like defeating Bowser in "World 8" for the 11th time.
In all seriousness, it is as necessary to know when to stick something out as it is to just drop the ball and walk away. Our lives are not only constructed by the things we do, but also by the things we do not choose to pursue.
Students are coerced by outside sources to pursue goals and majors that do not personally resonate with them.
It is okay to quit. In fact, I encourage you to quit, especially those freshmen who are in the weed-out classes. Move on.
Quitting should not be looked down upon as a sign of failure or shame. Quitting can sometimes open up opportunities you might have otherwise never had.
After all, the late Steve Jobs was a quitter.
Nicholas Butler is a journalism sophomore at UF. His column appears on Wednesdays.
