Hey, it's Marie Forleo and you're watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business

and a life that you love. And I love that you're here with me today. You know why?

Because it's Q&A Tuesday, one of my favorite days of the week, really. It's all about

Q's and A's and today's question comes from Giuliana. Pretty name. And she writes:

“Hi Marie, how do I know when the obstacles are just part of the game or it's just too

hard? You have to be pushed sometimes, right? But how do I know when it's the right time

to push and recommit or if it's just time to give up and quit? Thank you so much, Giuliana.”

Giuliana, this is a big, juicy question and the truth is, there are so many factors that

make every situation unique. Sometimes the smart thing to do is to quit. We'll talk

about that in a minute. But other times you gotta dig deeper and recommit.

While I don't have all the answers, I do have some tips that will help you find yours.

First thing is that quitters do win. You know that old saying that quitters never win and

winners never quit? Total BS. It's just not true. To stay with something just because

you're afraid of feeling like or looking like a loser is not a smart strategy.

So I want to give you a reframe. It's called the power of positive quitting. This is what

happens when you realize that you've gone as far as you can go with a particular project

and it's actually not smart to keep going. You should cut your losses and redirect your

time and your resources into a new direction. So let me give you an example from my own life.

A few years ago I had spent a lot of time and money and energy building this beautiful custom

online membership forum. So it was going great, it was awesome. We had opened up the membership,

a lot of people paid us, and they came in, and guess what happened?

The whole thing friggin' crashed and burned. It was a nightmare. Now uh, what I did is took

a look and said, “Ok, all this money and time and energy I spent? I'm pulling the plug

We're getting out of here.” So of course I took care of my customers, we changed

platforms, everything was fine, but the point is I took a look at it and I said, “This

is the right thing to quit because I'm not gonna win going any further.” So I 86-ed

that whole thing, which brings me to my next point.

Number two, you gotta fork over the freedom fee. So here’s what I mean by this. Sometimes

we've got a lot of money or time or ego invested in the project and we feel like there's

a ton of sunk costs and we don't wanna let it go. I get it. But you've gotta reframe that.

Just like when you're trying to switch cell phone companies and they make you pay

that big fee to get out. That's what it's like sometimes with a project. If you start

to think about just letting this thing go and you get all kinds of mental and emotional

bandwidth, it's gonna make it a lot easier to eat those costs.

Number three, hard happens. Look, things in life get hard. I mean, we can all agree on

that. Right? ( - Oh yeah~ - Hands up!) But seriously, do not get caught up in the myth of flow. Yes, sometimes things

do flow but not always. Very often, you know what? Things do get hard. So don't believe

anybody when they tell you, “Oh, if it's really right for you, it's so easy and it

flows and it just… it's a natural unfolding of your you-ness.”

Natural unfolding my badonkadonk. You know what unfolds naturally? A bath towel. Kind of.

So I've had lots of projects that are totally worthwhile and you know what?

Hard things actually pop up. So when that happens for me, I realize I gotta dig in deeper and push through.

Sometimes it means I take a little break or sometimes it means I change my approach.

But the point here is, obstacles don't mean you should quit. Sometimes you've really

got to push through. Now, I know in this whole question we still haven't helped you decide

whether or not you should quit or commit, so here are two strategies that'll help

you find clarity.

First up, the 10 year test. Now, we've talked about this before on MarieTV, but we're repeating

it because it works. I want you to ask yourself, 10 years in the future will you regret quitting

this project right now? So going back to my example, when that website crashed and burned

I asked myself, “Am I gonna regret 10 years from now just giving this whole thing up?”

Not at all. It was one project, it taught me a lot, but that was it. I wasn't gonna

cry over it. So that's the same thing I want you to do. I want you to recognize whether

or not this project or whatever you're working on, is it a true soul goal or is it just something

on your journey that's taking you to something bigger?

So Giuliana, get connected. Really ask yourself, how will you feel in 10 years?

Tap into your heart and really pay attention to how you feel. This isn't just a useful test, it's actually a tweetable.

“Your feelings will guide you if you have the courage to tap into them and listen.”

Second you want to ask for guidance. So whether you meditate or you pray or you have another

spiritual practice, the point is you've gotta plug into a higher power. Ask for some help.

I do this all the time and it is amazing. You've gotta be open though to receiving the signs.

So maybe that looks like an email or maybe a call from a friend or maybe you'll

get an intuitive flash, but the point is if you don't ask you will not receive. So, Giuliana,

these are all the things that work for me. I know it's a big, hairy topic, there's

a lot of things to consider, but if you want another resource you might want to consider

checking out Seth Godin's book The Dip. It's all about how to figure out when to

quit and when to commit. So that was my A to your Q, I really hope it helps.

So now I would love to hear from you. Have you ever struggled with when to commit and

when to quit? And if so, what helped you decide? I would love to hear about it in the comments

below. Now, as always, the best discussions happen

after the episode over at marieforleo.com, so come on over and leave a comment now.

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Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world really needs that

special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I'll catch you

next time on MarieTV.