How to Quit Self-Inflicted Obligations
Studies have shown that the human brain has a strong urge to finish tasks that we start.
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We don’t like leaving things unfinished or partially done. This is known as the Zeigarnik Effect.
Quitting is not the same as procrastinating or accepting defeat but a shift of priorities.
The only resource that we as humans have a limit of is time. Becoming a master at quitting frees us to pursue other things that we find interesting.
That‘s why you need to make a pact to give up self-inflicted obligations.
As people, we feel obligated to a lot of things that just don‘t matter.
For example:
finishing a book you‘re not enjoying ---> start a new book
baking a cake to bring to the office on your birthday ---> buy a cake
reply to emails that don‘t contribute to your goals ---> delete them immediately
going out with people that you don‘t like ---> say no and do something else
Rather than feeling that everything that‘s thrown your way is an obligation that you have to do, think of everything as a suggestion, that you can take it or leave it.
Time to quit.
I have quit all my life.
And that’s exactly what keeps me going forward. ;)