The best time to quit

New runners went to practice, took a card detailing their routine, and then ran alone. There was no Coach Armstrong to bring out your best. There were no teammates to laugh and joke with, and no one for whom you’d ever run until you vomited.

I figured the best I could do was win an Ivy League sprint title. To do that, though, I’d have to train for a lackluster coach and a team that didn’t seem to care about me.

So, uncharacteristically, I quit.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted yet, but track, which had been such a formative part of my life, no longer seemed the way to get there.

Source: What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence by Stephen A. Schwarzman


I can relate to this: quitting before you have a plan for what's next, or before you know what you truly want.

Even then, one can already know what they don't want.