“Quitter” is sometimes an insult, but in this episode we explore how quitting can be underrated. Anyone involved in a creative project has likely wondered at some point if they should suck it up and continue the fight or move on. We’ll also discuss the dangers of the sunk cost fallacy, insights from Clue, the value of a coin toss, and of course, obeying the emerging form. Then, we interview author and teacher Pam Houston, and ask her these two questions: 1) How do you know it’s time to quit? and 2) How do you distinguish between “this is hard but insights will come” from “this is hard and it can’t work”?
Episode Notes
Deep Creek, by Pam Houston
Rosemerry’s poem about Clue
Christie’s posts at The Last Word on Nothing
Craig Childs on The Last Word on Nothing blog
Hannah Moshontz de la Rocha, a psychologist who studies quitting
Northwestern University study on happiness and discarding unrealistic goals
New York Times article on knowing when it is time to quit
Jessica Abel on knowing when it is time to quit
Episode 6: Quitting (with guest Pam Houston)