This Issue: Know When to Quit

Sometimes we have to be patient and sometimes we have to get moving. Wisdom is in knowing when to stay and when to go. Know when to quit. I know, it's easier said than done, but we all know when we’ve exhausted certain possibilities, and quite possibly ourselves, in the course of finding out. Wouldn’t it be great to know everything first?

That could save a lot of time. One way is to train your brain to do some assessing first. Do the ‘scenario’ test: If I quit this job, what will tomorrow bring? Maybe some adventures, but without a paycheck. What if I stayed in this job? The same old stuff, but with a paycheck. What if I thought about a new career? A good plan, because you can stay in your job while you’re working towards finding something more challenging. Sometimes that will even open up opportunities in your present job. Do the brain work first. Ask yourself a lot of questions. Planning now for the future will help you to know when to quit.

If, after trying to make your current situation better, it is an obvious dead end, then it’s a good time to move on. Maybe it’s just not a good fit. It’s like a relationship: on paper all the important things seem to add up, but the chemistry just isn’t there to make it work in reality. Jobs can be that way, too. I’ve hired people with terrific credentials only to find that they simply don't work out. You have to cut your losses quickly. That’s a good thing to learn if you want to be successful.

I talk a lot about momentum, and for a good reason. Business requires a tempo, too. We all know when we’re humming along and everything seems to work versus when everything hits the fan and it’s just not working. The best thing to do is shut off the fan, let the dust settle, and simply start over.

Not everything we do will be successful. The so-called Midas touch is definitely so-called and not usually good for longevity. When we hear of extremely successful people, it’s usually safe to assume they’ve encountered some obstacles or had difficulties along the way. There’s a lot of trial and error before something is effortless or polished. Michelangelo said something I can relate to, "If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all." The problem is, we usually only see the end result and not the process.

There was a guy who was a very successful businessman, but his first passion in life was the piano. He was very dedicated and disciplined, and achieved a certain virtuosity, but he finally realized he would never be one of the greats. In other words, he knew he would never be a Horowitz or a Gould, and he had very high standards for himself. So he quit the piano and applied himself to business and he became enormously successful. He just knew that he should move on, and he did. He remained a musician in his private life and maintained a healthy balance for himself with his interests. He said if he had remained a pianist, he would have been frustrated and it would have warped his sensibilities. He did a lot of thinking before he made his move, but he knew that quitting was the right decision.

Quitting is not always easy to move on. You'll leave something behind, but sometimes what’s ahead will be better. I convinced a friend of mine who was being devoured by Wall Street to go into something he enjoyed doing, which at that time was golf. He made the break with Wall Street, which initially wasn’t that easy, and he has been healthy and successful in the golf business ever since. We’ve got to do things we’re suited for and hopefully that we enjoy. Success is a great feeling. Success should add to your health, not detract from it.

I sometimes tell people they are not cut out to be entrepreneurs because it’s true. Some people are, some people aren’t. It will save you a lot of time and hardship if you can figure that out first. As with anything, you have to see how you handle pressure and the risk factor. It’s similar to going through the set of questions we had at the beginning of this article. Learn to scrutinize yourself.

One option is to take courses from Trump University, and learn how to write a business plan, or the keys to real estate investing. Learn as much as you can in every situation, but still try to find the time to learn to think for yourself. As Confucius said, "Learning without thought is labor lost." Don’t let that happen to you. Learn, work, and think in equal proportions and you’ll be going in the right direction.

If you like to read about airplanes and the men and women who fly them, you know about a strange syndrome that can strike fighter pilots whose planes have been hit by enemy fire.

Their planes are crashing. To escape certain death, all they have to do is eject. Yet for reasons no one understands, they decide not to eject. They sit there frozen and go down with their planes. They apparently prefer their familiar cockpits to the unknown world of open air, even when they know that decision will cost them their lives.

Sounds irrational? Of course it is. But chances are that you have done something quite similar at some point in your career. Your job was going nowhere. It was time to cut and run. But somehow, the familiarity of your routine was so comforting that you went back day after day and week after week.

Finally, you overcame your denial and got moving. Or perhaps a crisis hit that was so severe, you had to hit the eject button and get out. Your company got acquired. Your wonderful boss got the boot and a tyrant took over. Or perhaps your division got outsourced.

Jobs can crash, just like airplanes. When you have a strong inner sense it is happening to your job, you have to trust your instincts and jump onto firm ground. These learning tools will help:

• Believe in Yourself by Lillian Vernon - In this audio presentation, retailing legend Lillian Vernon reveals how she overcame limiting self-definitions and triumphed in her business and her life. Free. Visit Trump Audio at http://www.trumpuniversity.com/podcast/index.cfm

• The Trump University Entrepreneur Assessment Profile - If you’re thinking of starting a business on your own, this self-assessment tool will help you pinpoint the entrepreneurial strengths you already have and uncover areas that need improvement. $29.00. Visit http://www.trumpuniversity.com/products/entrepreneurship/assessment-profile.cfm

• Play to Win in Business and Life by Les Hewitt - This audio course from the author of The Power of Focus pinpoints areas of opportunity where you can quickly advance your life and career. On three CDs, with a bonus year of online instruction at Trump University. $39.95. Visit http://www.trumpuniversity.com/products/entrepreneurship/play-to-win-in-business-and-life.cfm

Remember, the fact that your colleagues are returning to their desks day after day doesn’t mean that’s the right thing for you to do. Ultimately, you are the person who charts your destiny.

We often read and hear a lot about the importance of “sticking with it” and “never quitting,” but sometimes, deciding not to proceed can be just as valuable as going further. As Donald Trump put it in The Trump Way to Wealth (https://www.trumpuniversity.com/start/wealthcreation/twtw.cfm), “I'm not a believer in quitting, but every once in a while you have to be able to leave something.”

Simply stated, passing on bad deals frees you up to pursue better ones - maybe a lot better. In negotiation, there’s a concept called walk-away willpower. It refers to the ability to essentially stop negotiating and exit a transaction. Willpower is the operative word here, because to decide to walk away from a deal or project that you have already invested a lot of time into can be difficult, and can require a certain amount of personal discipline and strength.

The Principle of Invested Time

In his book Trump Strategies for Real Estate (http://www.trumpuniversity.com/shop/merchandise.cfm?id=80 ), George Ross writes about the invested time principle in negotiation, which he explains as “the more time a person has invested in a transaction, the less likelihood he or she’s going to give it up... they’ll do everything they can to salvage the transaction.” Nobody likes to waste time, especially in business. And the more time, energy, and/or money you put into a deal or venture, the harder it does become for you to just walk away from it. But sometimes you need to.

Whether you’re involved in real estate or another entrepreneurial endeavor, you’re always working towards a set of major objectives. Sure, things don’t always run as smoothly as we would want them to, and sometimes you’ll need to make concessions (or “sweeten the deal”) in order to make it work. But what do you do when you find that you’ve compromised so much that your big picture objectives are no longer in sight? The ultimate goal of any deal or venture is to feel satisfied and better off than before you started working on it. But what do you do if you don’t see that as a realistic possibility anymore?

Don’t waste your time - it’s more valuable than money. If you don’t see the benefits of the deal anymore, have the willpower to walk away from it.

So how do you know when to walk away? Here are some questions to ask yourself when you notice things changing drastically:

• Does the deal still make sense to you? Before you even start a new deal or venture, figure out what you want to achieve. This will help you stay focused throughout the process, so when things take a turn for the worse, you’ll be able to acknowledge the reality of the situation and act accordingly. You’ll be a lot better off admitting that a once strong deal has become weak it is better to walk away than see it all the way through and be stuck with a lemon.

• Do your alternatives look a lot more attractive? To do business from a position of strength, you always need to have various potential deals or paths you can take. If you keep the old saying “there are plenty of fish in the sea” in mind, then you’ll ensure that you won’t kill yourself trying to catch one of those fish.

• Has the atmosphere changed from cooperative to hostile? People engage in business with people who they trust and have a rapport with. Do your best to distinguish between the deal-makers you trust and the deal-breakers that drive you crazy.

If your answer is yes to all of the above, then it might time be to stop making concessions and start pursuing a new deal or venture. After all, you don’t want to sweeten a deal to the point that it gives you a financial cavity.

Knowing when to walk away from a deal or investment can mean the difference between saving a lot and losing a lot. Walk-away willpower requires discipline and strong grasp of your objectives. This is especially true when you’re just starting out. Junior entrepreneurs often say to themselves, “I’ll bank on this deal just to get my foot in the door, and then when I’m more established, I’ll be able to be more selective.” This is a bad attitude. Every deal is a reputation-builder - even the early ones. Do you want to be known as easy prey or a formidable peer? The decision is yours.