You Shouldn’t Feel Bad About Quitting
Quitter’s Day isn’t failure. It’s a chance to rethink whether your resolution is still worth the cost.
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Quitter’s Day—yes, that’s a real thing—came and went last Friday. If you’ve already abandoned your New Year’s resolution, you’re not alone. The second Friday of January is when millions of people quietly decide they’re done with their big goals for the year. Gym memberships go unused, ambitious learning plans stall, and meditation apps get deleted.
And you know what? That might be a good thing.
I made a resolution this year to read at least 52 books. So far, I’m keeping pace. But if I get to a point where reading one book each week starts interfering with more important commitments—if it becomes an obligation rather than something I genuinely enjoy—I won’t have a problem letting it go. Because in many cases, quitting isn’t a failure. Let’s talk about why.
What Are You Giving Up?
Economists love the saying, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” It’s not just about an afternoon meal—it’s about decision-making. Every choice you make comes with a trade-off, known as opportunity cost. When you say yes to one thing, you’re implicitly saying no to something else you could have done.
Take my book-a-week resolution. Every hour I spend reading is an hour I’m not doing something else—watching a movie, working on a side project, or spending time with friends. If, at some point, the value of those other activities starts to outweigh the value of finishing yet another book, I need to rethink my priorities.
That same logic applies to your New Year’s resolution. Maybe you planned to run every morning, but now you realize those extra 30 minutes of sleep make you more productive at work. Or perhaps you set out to learn a new language, only to find it’s cutting into the time you’d rather spend with your family.
Just because something felt like a great idea on January 1 doesn’t mean it’s still the best use of your time on January 13. Priorities shift. And that’s okay.
When to Walk Away
Opportunity cost is easy enough to grasp—choose what benefits you the most. But actually following through? That’s where things get much more difficult.
A big reason people struggle to quit is the sunk cost fallacy—the tendency to keep doing something just because we’ve already invested time, money, or effort into it. It feels wasteful to walk away. But here’s the problem: those costs are gone whether you continue or not. The only rational move is to make decisions based on the future, not the past.
I’ve fallen into this trap before with books. There was a time when, no matter how much I disliked a book, I’d force myself to finish it because I had already started. After all, I had a goal to achieve and it felt like I wasted time switching to a new book when I was already partly done with a book. But now? If I’m not enjoying it by page 50, I stop. The hour I spent reading those pages? It’s already gone. I’m not getting that time back. The only question that should matter is whether finishing the book is a better use of my time than reading something else.
The same logic applies to your resolution. Maybe you resolved to hit the gym three times a week, but every session feels like torture. Should you keep going just because you already paid for the membership? Planet Fitness isn’t returning that money to your bank account. The real question you should ask yourself is whether future gym visits will benefit you. If not, quitting isn’t failure—it’s a smart decision.
And yes, this even applies to my 52-book resolution. If I hit week 51 and a major project needs my full attention, I shouldn’t keep reading just because of all the books I read before. Sunk costs are history. The smartest decisions are always forward-looking.
Why Is Quitting So Stigmatized?
We love stories about perseverance. The athlete who pushes through injury. The entrepreneur who refuses to give up. The underdog who defies the odds. There’s no shortage of inspirational quotes to back it up: "Winners never quit, and quitters never win."
But that’s simply not true. Winners quit all the time. They just do it strategically.
Businesses shut down unprofitable ventures. Athletes retire when their bodies can’t take the strain. Companies pivot when the market shifts. Nobody calls these decisions failures—they’re smart choices based on costs and benefits. So why do we treat personal quitting with so much guilt or judgment?
A lot of it comes down to how we frame success. We admire discipline and persistence, often without questioning whether the goal is still worth pursuing. Sticking with something just because you started is a trap. If quitting allows you to reallocate your time and energy toward something more valuable, it’s not a failure. It’s the best choice for you at that moment.
Final Thoughts
If you’re close to abandoning your resolution for the year, try not to think of yourself as a failure. Think of it as an evaluation point. This is a chance to step back and ask yourself:
Was this goal actually improving my life?
Was the opportunity cost worth it?
Am I quitting for the right reasons?
If your answers lead you to walk away, congratulations—you’ve made a rational decision. If they push you to keep going, that’s great too. Either way, you’re thinking like an economist: basing decisions on future value, not past investment.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some reading to do. For now, at least.
About one-in-ten (12%) of those who didn’t make a resolution say they break them too easily [Pew Research Center]
Among adults under 30, the most popular resolutions are saving more money (47%) and improving physical health (33%) [YouGov]
Only 8% of respondents in a 2024 survey said their past resolutions lasted more than a month [Forbes]
Research suggests that 23% of people quit their resolution by the end of the first week, and 43% quit by the end of January [Lead Read Today by OSU Fisher College of Business]
My microeconomics professor used to say "learn to be a quitter!"
“Opportunity cost” I think has been my low key “excuse” that now seems revolutionary to not follow through lol I enjoyed reading this as someone who rarely makes NY’s resolutions. My birthday being at the beginning of the year gives me my motivation to just do better. Having a plan is ideal but life happens and when I notice I’m not reading as much or checking off some list, I know I need to run or journal to collect myself. Or like tonight get hardly any sleep and realize my procrastination is getting the best of me and step it up!