I had a quality question thrown my way on a phone call. It actually stopped me mid-sentence while I was ranting to my mentor.
In truth, it wasn’t some kind of magical question that no one has ever asked before, but the intention behind my mentor asking me this very question was to get me to think about what I was saying and to re-think my intentions.
I was harping (ranting) on about how I was feeling the urge to give up on my business and dreams. I was explaining to my mentor how I couldn’t pinpoint why I wanted to quit, but I just wanted out. Now, usually, when I’ve opened up about these feelings to friends I tend to get the usual “don’t quit, you’re closer than you think” and every other “never give up” quote you can imagine. But this time, it hit me and it hit me hard.
So while I was saying to my mentor “I don’t know why, but I keep feeling like giving up on it all. I just want out. I want to call it quits and just bail. I’m not even sure why anymore, it almost seems like…”
And then my mentor interrupted me and asked. “What will you do with your time if you give up?”
I literally had no answer. Just silence and a new desire to persevere. With one question the pain of giving up became substantially greater than the pain of endurance. The call ended within minutes. I had my head down and I was back in the game.
So if you’re ready to throw in the towel and call it quits ask yourself, what will you do if you give up? Listen to your initial answer with intent. You’ll be surprised with what may come up.