why do you quit

[Tin Falcon]

Zee one could argue that you are not quitting but simply distracted with life. Don Sandler  has a hard and fast rule one project at  a time.

when i first started this hobby I started minkin  . a model that is really too small for a beginner. then IIrc i stared the PMR 2 engine and busted a tap in the head then i finished Lucy in IIRC a week and then Webster alo in a week.  then i went back and finished minikin and then the pmr #2 and i have since finished other engines . these days mostly work house chores and a bit of addictive manufacturing.
I have too many projects started . I probably need to pick one and finish it then another....

[Maryak]

Quit................................


I liken it to banging you head on a brick wall................Its time to quit when it starts to hurt.

In our case its a hobby so quitting or continuing is a personal decision and you'll know it was the right thing if you feel better after the decision was made than you did before making it.


Regards Bob

[Tennessee Whiskey]

I know y’all just been dying to hear my spin on this  So ok Dr. Zee , here’s my take: Hell yeah I’m a quiter. I quit Babe Ruth baseball with a very respectable batting average, yet I realized the hardship it was placing on both of my working parents to get me to practice and games, I quit playing golf when a nice enjoyable 18 holes in 3.5 hours turned into a sitting on the fairway, drinking beer, waiting for the group in front to hit, which soon became 5-6 hours. I quit flying when 9-11 occured and as an all American, English speaking, redneck, I had to “declare myself” ( are you shiting me) I quit shooting skeet cause I had to drive over an hour to do it, I quit trying to play guitar because I found this hobby and I seem to have more mechanical rhythm that musical. I’ve given up on a woman or two before Lou, I gave up the hard drugs back in the day, so, at one time or other, I’ve pretty much quit everything. The one thing I won’t quit; is the desire to wake up every morning and have that “choice” . If you’re talking about machining; get over it and throw it in the bin, if you are talking about life; take a deep breath and savor it 

Whiskey

[zeeprogrammer]

If you’re talking about machining; get over it and throw it in the bin, if you are talking about life; take a deep breath and savor it 

Good one! 

This thread might have an altogether different feeling if the word 'quitting' was changed to 'stopping' (or 'pausing').
Many of the responses related to that.

[propforward]

I think people are too quick to compare abandoning something / quitting / stopping as failure, and similarly that failure is ALWAYS a bad thing.

It is not. Failure is merely a step in the learning process. At the best companies I have worked at, we always look for the means to "accelerate time to failure" on development projects. Why? Because the failure point is often how you figure out what you really need to do. It can be disheartening at times, but good leadership gets over that.

In the context of home model engineering, it means screwed up parts, or parts that aren't as good as you want them to be. I quit on one engine for 2 years, over a simple machining step, then came back to it and finished the engine. Other stuff got in the way too, but I took pause. That was over a relatively simple operation. Since then, I've taken a critical look at the parts I've made and decided I can do better, but can at least see the way forward.

There are other things I have attempted in life, where I was not enjoying the process, not getting the results I wanted, or it was taking too long and costing too much. Building my shoppe was one. I built maybe four or five of the frames needed for the walls. They were nice and square, and were used in the final shoppe. Great. Took me two weeks to make them. I hired a builder, he had those frames modified (I'd made them for 8' ceilings - should have been 9' - happily we made the effort to modify and go with 9'), and the remaining dozen or so frames built in two hours, the whole shop built, wired and sheetrocked in another 5 days.

So yeah, I quit on that one, and I don't care.

I don't believe anyone who says they "never quit". But I do accept that we shouldn't just give up on things without some sound reasoning.

Too long; didn't read.

Snooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooore.


 

No sleepy smiley in the smiley selection. FAIL!

[Tin Falcon]

Z this is apparently a struggle that is not relegated to the HSM hobby.
Many folks struggle with similar issues.
I ran across this article  on Hack a Day. thought i would post a link.

https://hackaday.com/2018/09/25/productivity-unfinished-projects-and-letting-go/

[Don1966]

Zee it not that we quiet we gain interest in other things. One thing I keep in mind is that this is a hobby and if I want to build sonething I will build it no rush no time limit because it is a hobby. My dad was a defeatist no positive thought you just can’t do it but we did just go show him we could but my dad only had a third grade education and a farmer. I do what I want when I want there is no rush if I start a project it really doesn’t matter how long it sits and waits for me to finish it my life doesn’t revolve around it or it being finished. When I do it will be completely finish but on my own time so no we are not quitters we just in life as it is and other things come into focus. If you stay in your shop day in and day other that’s fine some get additive to it and don’t stop while some of us just like to enjoy life along the way and that is where I am and enjoying it and will do projects as I choose to do do but I am far from being a quitter.

My two cents
Don 

[steamer]

Wot Don said  ^^^^^^^^^^

[10KPete]

Well said, Don! Very well said.

If only I could spend the uninterupted time in the shop I wanted. But there are other things in life I choose to participate in doing. So, no quitting, just stop and go.

Pete