Quit While You're Behind

You have heard it often, "Quit while you're ahead!" It is actually bad advice. My advice isto quit quickly when you start losing.

People often work longer hours when they are making no money. Cab drivers work well into the night when there are few convention goers or tourists around. They have not met what they would call their daily minimum. They work longer and get little for their work.

On the other hand, during conventions and big tourist attractions they shut down early because they have met that daily minimum early. Obviously, this isn't the best system. It would be much more cost effective to work longer hours when there are many customers and quit early when there are few.

You can apply this to just about anything. Work much harder when you are winning. Often, the best thing to do is quit doing what doesn't pay off.

Of course, there are reasons to keep working. If you have a conviction that this is the right thing to do you should keep doing it. You should follow your convictions. For example, if you believe you should keep telling your neighbors about Christ even if they won't listen to you or if you believe you are supposed to be a writer though no one will publish what you write, you need to keep doing it.

When you start winning, however, you need to work harder to keep winning. When you have a bad day, call it a bad day and go home early.

This is used often in sports. If the play works, keep running it until it stops working. If the defense works, keep it until it stops working. Don't stick with something that doesn't work.

Now, wouldn't it be nice if the government could learn this lesson?