Quitting

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. This week I want to talk about quitting. That may seem like an odd message for what is typically a more upbeat and positively oriented platform, but hear me out.

Author of The Voltage Effect, John List was on the freakonomics podcast discussing his book and his overall economic philosophy. The book is an economist’s ideas on how to make entrepreneurial ideas work at scale.

The conversation covered a number of cases studies including Uber, Lyft, and K-mart. Specifically discussed was the K-mart blue light special.

The blue light special (along with K-mart) went from being a sales mogul, to a forgotten cultural relic. Lost to the annals of history along with Kodak and Blockbuster.

The blue light special would alert shoppers to a great deal on individual products that were then first come first serve until they were gone. The resulting increase in sales not just for the blue light product but for all products was astonishing.

Taking advantage of excitement, scarcity, and a feeling of exclusivity, the blue light special was a smash hit. Until it was taken over by corporate. individual store managers could set the blue light special for their customers needs in a way that was inaccessible to corporate offices. Not to mention that the shoppers in Boise probably had different wants than those in Orlando.

Among other decisions and macro trends outside of their control, K-mart fell by the wayside. List discusses some of these trends but laments corporate inability to shift from a bad plan. When the desired outcome is not being served by a plan it is time to quit. This is what he calls optimal quitting.

Quitting has a decidedly negative connotation, and especially for the many endeavors that I pursue, grappling and triathlon among others. But within each of those activities are dozens of optimal quitting scenarios.

Abandoning a technique that has been cleverly countered. Switching to a different game plan or overall strategy for an opponent with different skill sets. Changing your race pace or gearing based on race day terrain or conditions. These are all examples of optimal quitting. Real time adjustments when the desired outcome is not being served.

Parenting presents plenty of opportunities for optimal quitting too. Wrestling with my boys is all fine and well until it escalates, or gets them too riled up before bed. There is undoubtedly and optimal time to quit. One that is often times slightly exceeded.

The tools used to tackle a tantruming toddler can vary in their approach. Using one too long may preclude using another. If you use the stick too early, it is hard to dangle the carrot. If they’ve already got the carrot the stick doesn’t hold the same power. There is a period of optimal quitting when changing your tactics with a toddler. One I have yet to figure out.

The point is, quitting is not the end all be all of negativity it is often painted to be. Practice quitting, especially optimally quitting, is worth your time and energy. As someone who has stumbled into doing it correctly on occasion, whether it be grappling, parenting, or grappling with my parenting dilemma, optimal quitting can yield its own form of serenity.

Tour de Zwift, running and some KOT programming

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. This past week my wife and I raced in a triathlon for the first time in the years and two years respectively. It felt good to get back on the road, and open a door I hadn’t before.

Listening to ultra runner Zach Bitter talk to Lex Friedman, they floated the idea of race outcomes as doors you walk through. Specifically they were talking about quitting.

Race week warm up runs on layovers in Columbia and Destin, with a barefoot beach 5k and sprint thrown in for good measure.

Once you have quit, it is like unlocking and walking through a door. Now that door is always unlocked and open. Once you have gone through it, it is always an option. If you have quit, you are a quitter, and can be again.

I understand the thought process and I agree with it, although there is some nuance to that designation, quitter. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, and quitting is the best option.

But, that’s not really what I want to talk about today. The idea of race outcomes as doors is really interesting. And the idea that if you haven’t unlocked the quit door that you are somehow more insulated from it is also interesting. Does that same idea work for other doors?

Feeling like Ralphie’s brother in his new coat

If it is your first time racing a certain distance, you’ve never unlocked and opened that finisher door. There is naturally a level of uncertainty with taking on a new distance, and likewise a level of confidence having unlocked and walked through the door of the finish line.

So every race has a door labeled DNF (did not finish or quit), and a door labeled finish line, but I think there is another door. A harder one to unlock and walk through. A door that most of us never get a chance to traverse.

That’s the door of winning. Lots of people race, lots of people finish, some may not, bit very very few win. For most folks, it’s not even a consideration. They race is against the clocks, the course, themselves, maybe a training partner or friend, but the idea of winning is never considered. The door remains locked, in an unlit and dusty corner of the room.

But every race has a winner, someone walks through that door. I would imagine that door is very much the same as the other doors. Once it is unlocked, once you have walked through, the idea that it is in fact an option becomes more realistic in your mind.

I like most racers, have never walked through that door. But this past weekend, I found the key and got my toe in it.

My badass wife finishing second in age group and me first place male* and third overall

I finished as the male winner of the international distance triathlon. However, as my wife likes to remind me, fast girls have good times, and I was beaten by two very fast ladies so I finished third place overall.

It never occurred to me before this weekend that I might ever win a race. That’s the reality of this sport for 99% of the participants. And while I still haven’t walked through the winner door, I think I’ve found the key, and more importantly I believe it is a viable option.

The door has always been in the room, and it turns out I’ve had the key all along, it was my belief that was lacking. (And maybe some of the faster dudes staying at home that weekend, who knows.)

*there was a chip error which led to an incorrect assignment of second place which has since been corrected.

I’m excited to get back on the race course again, knowing that there is another usable door in the room. And I hope I can find a way to pass on to my boys, that many doors are open to those with the desire to walk through them.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Tag: Quitting

Doors