If quitting is bad, waiting is worse

Okay so you don't like to quit. You believe that it is better to hang in there and see what's in store rather than quit. Sounds good? Lets revisit that today. 

It must have been a tough situation that made you think about quitting. Bad year in sales? Your manager conveniently ignored your hard work (or smart work) when it came to appraising you? Couldn't get your book published? Must have been something that pushed you against the wall. 

Hanging in there will not change anything. You will be up against the wall tomorrow, the day after and the day after that and everyday till either you do something about it or nature does it for you. 

You can do few things, apart from hanging in there - 

1. Improve your skills. 

Basically "put your head down" and slog it out till you get better and better. 

2. Change the environment around you. 

Go talk to your boss, if you want a change of role. If your company is failing in certain areas - reach out to other players in the market and see if you can build partnerships (e.g. form a sales partnership with a complementary product company and go to the market together). 

3. If you are not doing point 1 and/or 2- do yourself a favor and quit. Quitting is not the same as failing. By quitting you shut down the energy drain on things that are not solving your problems (so that you can focus on something you have a better chance of succeeding at). If you have a big home loan and you want the monkey off your back you will have to do something drastic to achieve that. Cribbing about your situation over cups of coffee will release some pressure but is not going to help you sleep at night. 

We would have been extinct millions of years ago, if we had waited on the trees, as the environment changed around us.

Evidence is Gold!

People naturally look for evidence to validate or substantiate their choices. It is vital not just in the court of law, but in every walk of life. Consider two young companies trying to break into a new market. Even before they start introducing themselves, we get impatient and curious - 

"Who are your clients?"

Evidence helps to lower the risk of our next move, improves our chances, enhances our learning without failing... We ask our friends, family and colleagues - 

"Did you like the that movie?"

"How was your experience of working for that company?"

Evidence is important to understand what went right (or wrong). Its not just about big events or sales calls. Consider a 9AM meeting which starts with some numbers from reliable sources. Wouldn't that be interesting for a change? 

Some people try too hard to make their presentation interesting/charming (even practice their jokes a 100 times) to grab attention. Your prospective customer couldn't care less about what your product 'can' do, let alone your forced wit. Tell them what it has done for other customers (even if that was in a test/pilot launch) and note the change in their attention. 

Start your elevator pitch with it and it might just make your day (until of-course, you run into other problems).