By Björgvin Benediktsson
What if you become really successful at something, then realize you don’t want to spend the rest of your life doing it?
I recently walked away from the music business and it's a question I've been forced to answer.
For the past 15 years, I helped musicians and producers make better music and, in the process, created a million-dollar-plus creative business mostly through writing and digital products. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, but I realized that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life doing it.
This fork in the road required that I learn a new skill: discernment.
When it comes to what you’re working on, you need to learn when to keep going or when you need to let go and move on. Especially if you’re in a challenging phase of your project.
If and when you find yourself asking the same question I asked myself, this insight can help you discern what’s right for you.
EVERY project goes through this cycle of change. Just like Mike Plunkett talked about in his Insight, the key is to know where you are and discern if you should keep going or move on.
Image Source.
Is this Dip Worth Staying In?
It’s easy to have dramatic, knee-jerk overreactions when you’re frustrated. And the most dramatic reaction is always to quit.
If you overreact too quickly, you might be fooling yourself because chances are, you’re just in The Dip.
The Dip comes from Seth Godin’s book and it’s a concept I’ve talked about before. It’s the miserable, messy middle you have to get through in any project or as the graphic aboves describes it, the Valley of Despair.
The initial excitement has worn off, the work has gotten harder, and you haven’t reached the light at the end of the tunnel.
I’ve worked on plenty of projects where I’ve exhaled a long frustrated sigh and said, “Ok, just get through this part because we’ve got to get to the other side.”
That’s a lot different than sitting down to work and thinking, “I swear to God, if I have to do this for one more f%&%ng minute I’m going to swan-dive into traffic!”
In many ways, you'll feel the difference when you’re working on something you have ownership over versus a creative project for someone else.
When I’m working on something I have ownership over, something I believe in, I’m much more willing to push through the difficult parts.
The work can be equally frustrating, but my relationship to the work is completely different. That’s the awareness you should keep in mind.
There’s an important difference between thinking:
“This part isn’t working.”
and:
“This is all GARBAGE!!”
One is useful feedback. The other is you needing a nap.
Quit, But With Evidence
It’s easy to forget that you don’t need permission from anybody to do whatever you feel like.
That includes quitting.
In those moments, I want you to remember this: Don’t make big decisions based on fleeting frustrations.
Before you throw it all away, try to separate your feelings about the work from whatever is going on in your life.
Respond. Don’t react. And look for evidence.
Take a moment to answer these questions:
Have you always hated this project but begrudgingly gone along with it for some reason?
Has it just been a challenging week?
Are you still excited when you have the end in mind, even if the current phase is frustrating?
Sometimes you need to push through the difficult parts because you can see the final piece on the other side. But sometimes you’ve outgrown the work, and continuing only means spending more of your life doing something you don’t care about anymore.
You’re allowed to quit. Just make sure you’re quitting for the right reasons.
You can still be proud of what you’ve built while realizing you don't want to spend the rest of your life building more of it.
That’s what I call real growth.
Hope that helps,
Björgvin
Welcome to TENWEST Insights!
TENWEST Insights is a place where members of the TENWEST community share insights on how to shape your path: Whether you're building your business, developing your creative pursuit, or just creating something new that will help you and your community.
Our goal is to give you the tools to navigate our changing world …and prepare you for TENWEST 2027!
This month’s Insight was shared by Björgvin Benediktsson. He is an author, entrepreneur, advisor and TENWEST superfan. In fact, he’s been involved with TENWEST since the beginning.
He’s the entrepreneur-in-residence at the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship and mentor-in-residence for the UA Center for Innovation. You can read more of his work on his Substack here.