Book Review: Quitter

I just finished reading Quitter by Jon Acuff.  The idea behind the book is moving from your day job to your dream job.  It was interesting for me to read this book, because I already have the privilege of living out my dream job everyday.  I have wanted to be a high school principal since I was in high school due to the godly example set by my high school principal.  However, I know that not everyone is as fulfilled in their current job.  My purpose in reading this book was to confirm that I am indeed in my dream job as well as to look for ways to encourage those who are longing for more out of their job.  I think this book is a great read for everyone, no matter how you feel about your job.  This book provides encouragement, confirmation, and a ton of laughter!

Here are some things that I highlighted while reading…

• I hated that my dreams had to go into hibernation every Monday morning. And so, like many other times in my life, I kept coming back to the same thought. It’s quitting time.
• At some point we stopped being stayers and formed a long line of leavers. We started seeing motion as a sign of success and transition as a sign of progress.
• To chase your dream well you must fight to hold on to this small but significant word. Saying no is one of your most important resources, especially in the beginning. And the simplest and safest way to keep your no’s is to keep your day job.
• I know it sounds crazy, but people with jobs tend to have more creative freedom than people without.
• When you step up to a challenge before you, your ramped-up resources rub off on other areas of your life. You wouldn’t think eating less “fat” would impact how closely you monitor your family’s financial budget, but it’s all tied together. Discipline and focus are contagious and they tend to spread their benefits all around. Unfortunately this works both ways.
• Don’t buy into the nothing lie. You wound yourself when someone compliments your gift and you reply, “Oh, that’s nothing.” Your gift is never nothing. Regardless of what it can be, it is always something. And something is the perfect place to start.
• What do I love enough to do for free?
• What do I do that causes time to feel different?
• What do I enjoy doing regardless of the opinions of other people?
• If only your life changed, would that be enough?
• Are there any patterns in the things you like doing?
• Competition is a great motivator but a horrible measurement.
• “You can’t use analytics to figure out the message.” In other words, you can’t allow your results or the measurement of your progress to control your dream. What you do, the message, so to speak, has to be true and honest and come from the core of what you care about, not be a whim in the whirling winds of analytics.
• Measure hustle first.
• Measure the things you can control before the things can’t.
• Author Malcolm Gladwell summarized this problem in a speech he gave: “Incompetence irritates me, but overconfidence scares me. Incompetent people rarely have the opportunities to make mistakes that greatly affect things. But overconfident leaders and experts have the dangerous ability to create disaster.

Do yourself a favor and go pick up a copy of this book today!