Happy National Quitter's Day!
According to someone somewhere (probably a marketing person), something called National Quitters Day now exists. It’s the 2nd Friday in January (January 10th this year) when people supposedly “quit” their resolutions for the year. According to extensive research done by Strava in 2019: “Approximately 80% of people who made New Year’s resolutions have tapped out by the second week of January.”
One of the main reasons attributed to people quitting their goals is a loss of motivation. “People usually start with high levels of motivation, but as time progresses, the drive begins to wane. The key to achieving goals is to set short, medium, and long-term goals as opposed to one large unrealistic stretch goal. Starting small and staying consistent, and also pairing up with someone else to remain accountable and motivated, will lead to good results.” - NationalToday.com
The foundation of our Dirty Kitten Winter Training Series (DKWTS) is motivation. We want to provide ways to motivate our participants to stay active, communicate with others, share experiences, and engage in some friendly-competition. It’s about inspiration, encouragement, and accountability. The article quoted above highlights the importance of starting small, staying consistent, having accountability, and finding motivation. These are also OUR goals. We’re not really focused on numbers, data, metrics, or any of those arbitrary details. If you are a person who likes that stuff, awesome! If not, awesome as well!
But at Dirty Kitten we don't really believe in quitting. Or to be more specific: We believe “quitting” isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We quit things all the time and sometimes it’s good! If something is not serving you in a positive way and doesn’t bring you joy AND you have the choice to do it or not do it, it's ok to "quit" and try something else.
I used to think it wasn’t. I used to push myself no matter what and finish a task, race, job, activity, etc ignoring the consequences. Sure, I achieved my goals and met my expectations, but I wasn’t necessary happier or healthier or in a better place. And that’s what’s really important. Society often tells us that we need to “finish what we started” and “never quit” or else we are failures. Think of all the language surrounding that culture: No Pain, No Gain; Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win; You Can’t Fail Unless You Quit; Never Give Up!
Yes, there’s a difference between “quitting” because something is hard and uncomfortable but isn’t causing you any real harm and has a positive outcome versus “quitting” because you started something with one intention and realized at some point that it wasn’t working or serving you the way you had hoped. It’s ok to change your mind, change paths, go a different direction, stop and start over, and to quit. In fact, I would argue that it’s better to quit than to dig yourself into a hole that will then be harder to climb out of later.
In March 2024, The Washington Post printed an article about the benefits of quitting in their Well-Being section titled Why Quitting Can Be A Superpower That Helps Your Mental Health by Gregory Scott Brown, MD. In the piece, he states: "Many people think — and you might, too — that quitting reflects laziness, inadequacy or failure. From the time we are children, we are taught that 'nobody likes a quitter.' My work, however, has taught me that quitting, itself, isn’t the problem [...] knowing how and when to quit is a superpower that can benefit your mental health." (If you don't have a Washington Post login, you can access the article for free HERE.)
As we get rolling into another round of DKWTS and finish up this 2nd week of January, let’s focus on keeping the good vibes going. If you posted your New Year’s resolutions and goals this week, thank you. Those are for YOU and YOU only. We aren’t writing them down or keeping track of them. They may change and that's OK. Even if you "quit" them and start over, you are allowed to change your mind. Whatever you decide, we hope you stick with us for the entire series into March and beyond. This community is an amazing place and I feel so grateful to be a part of it.
Bring it on, 2025!
-Alex