Challenge Changes Nothing for Those Who Don’t Quit

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”

― Theodore Roosevelt

Client: Oh man; this past week was tough.

Me: Are you a quitter?

Client: What? No!

Me: Then nothing changes.

The frequency and severity of difficulty changes nothing for people who don’t quit. Bad news? If you aren’t a quitter, nothing changes. Good news? If you aren’t a quitter, nothing changes. Devastating circumstances? If you aren’t a quitter, nothing changes. Stressful environment? If you aren’t a quitter, nothing changes.

In 2018, researchers found that learning a new skill is better at coping with stress than vacation: https://hbr.org/.../to-cope-with-stress-try-learning.... People tend to think they need to escape or buckle down when faced with challenges. But ADDING learning when already “overspent” appears to have better outcomes.
That is, when you sense you’re on the verge of crushing defeat or at the apex of despair, you don’t need to quit every time. You don’t need to run away. And you don’t have to fight either. You can simply take a breath and learn. Learn. And keep going.

There is only one single trait which predicts success: not quitting: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/.../141015-angela.... Researchers have slaved for this answer. IQ cannot predict success. Resources can’t. Socioeconomic status cannot. Advantage and privilege cannot. Raise chances? Sure. But not predict. And the reason why is because a quitter can have every possible beneficial trait and still throw it all away. He’s a quitter after all. It won’t matter if he’s a genius billionaire trust fund baby.

So once you’ve determined you’re not a quitter, what does challenge change? You weren’t going to quit anyway. What does the pain of the news change? What does a newly found disadvantage change?

Are you going to quit?

No?

​Then nothing changes. Learn. And keep moving.