The Difference Between Quitting and Failing

Failure is an overused term nowadays and people fail to make the distinction between actually failing and quitting. It's much easier to tell yourself and others "I failed" instead of telling them "I quit on myself". Honestly ask yourself, "did I really fail or did I just quit on myself?" Only you can answer that question and I believe, more often than not, that people quit on themselves long before they actually reach failure.

Quitting is a decision and failure is a physical action. If you decide to stop something, even if it's because of an injury or other factor, you still quit. Failure, on the other hand, is when something actually gives out. It's when you physically cannot do it anymore. While quitting is a decision you make up in your mind.

I believe it is possible to quit on yourself and still succeed. Heck, you could quit on yourself and still set a world record. But only you would ever know if you really gave something your best. I'll give you an example, today I was doing a 4,000 meter Assault Bike test for time. My time ended up being 5:37 which I thought was pretty good. From an outsiders' perspective, it probably looked like I was going pretty hard too. It probably looked like I was giving it my all and selling out. But the truth is, I let my pace lag in the middle. I took my foot off the gas in the 2-3 thousand meter range and gave in to my mind telling me to slow down. That's quitting. I may not have fully quit and jumped off the bike and stopped but I did, for a few moments, give in to my negative thoughts and let myself coast.

This is something we should all be self-evaluating on a daily basis. Did I really give my all on that workout or that project? Chances are you did not. No matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise there was probably a part that you half-assed.

Now you're probably thinking, "Okay so how do I ever give my 100% max effort?"

You don't.

I don't believe there ever truly is a 100% max effort and that's what I love about training and life. There's always room to improve and there's always room to get better. You just have to be honest with yourself and admit when you slowed down or when you quit on yourself, even if just for a brief moment. This is the constant chase that makes the great truly great and the good just good. The people who are good will settle for that effort. They'll lie and tell you that that was their absolute 100% max while the great will evaluate where they dropped off and go out and attack that weakness for the next time. The good will hide behind the word failure and the great aren't afraid to use the term quit.

I'm not saying you're a bad person if you settle for just good enough but what I am saying is that if you want to take the next step and continue on the path to greatness then you need to start evaluating yourself a little harder. Stop accepting a good effort and trying to disguise it as great. Accept and admit where you dropped off and strive to be better the next time. Don't ever say that you failed unless you actually physically gave out.

My point here today is for you to start breaking down your efforts on a micro-level. Look at each individual piece and be honest with yourself. Where did you screw up and where did you coast? Did you really lay it all on the line for that workout or did you just push during the last minute because you knew it was almost over? This all comes down to honesty with yourself. If you can't even be honest with yourself then how can you be honest with other people or honest in your evaluation of your efforts?

Stop saying you failed and start admitting that you quit. See what it feels like to call yourself a quitter and let that drive you to be better. Then, watch as your progress in all areas of life skyrockets through the roof.

Don't let this idea of no true 100% effort discourage you. Accept that things will never be good enough and let it drive you to new heights.

Get After It.