The Truth Behind: Quitting Is Not An Option

Gillette’s slogan, a company well known for razors and shaving products, is ‘the best a man can get.’ The products they offer have evolved throughout the decades but they all started as the brainchild of one man – King C. Gillette. Though he was primarily seeking to make a better life for his family, he stumbled across an idea that not only benefited his family but also millions more in the years to come. Several times he was told to quit or find another avenue, but for him quitting was not an option.

There is an old Russian proverb that says, “It is easier to bear a child once a year than to shave every day.” I’m sure many women may disagree with that saying but that was the feeling of many men at the time. Mr. Gillette was an inventor and had several patents to his name but nothing was producing the return on his investment that he desired. Then, one day in 1895, while preparing to shave, he noticed that his blade was dull and he envisioned a blade that could be “made cheap enough to do away with honing and stropping (a process to sharpen a blade) and permit the user to replace dull blades by new ones. At the time this was a revolutionary idea as it had always been thought that a razor would last a lifetime and could even be passed on to the next generation. Mr. Gillette had an idea that challenged the status quo. Though our ideas can be revolutionary, the process that brings them to bear can often seem ordinary.

The machinists and metallurgists that Gillette spoke to repeatedly told him that there was no way to manufacture the thin blades he had in mind, making it impossible to find financial backers. In 1900, Mr. Gillette met a chemist named William Nickerson who agreed to attempt to produce the blades that Mr. Gillette envisioned. After several financial setbacks, numerous rejections, jokes at his expense, and fractured relationships the first Gillette razors were produced in 1903. We have to remember that when all else has seemed to fail we still shouldn’t succeed at failing.

QUITTING IS AN OPTION

I had just made my 100^th call to various youth ministries and their respective leaders from all over the country promoting the release of my new book, Blueprint for Bible Basics. After weeks of calls, emails, follow-up calls, and follow-up emails the net result was zero book sales! I’m a relatively confident guy and I tend to see the glass as half-full most of the time, but I don’t think anyone would feel very encouraged after such pathetic results. Other times I have put myself and my ideas out there to different people, churches, organizations, etc. only to be told no, not right now (a fancy ‘no’), or we’ve decided to go in a different direction (a really fancy ‘no’). Once again, many people would and have quit after such poor results. I’d be lying if I said that quitting didn’t cross my mind. Although it sounds nice to say that “quitting is not an option,” the truth of the matter is that quitting is always an option. Author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” Robert Kiyosaki said, “quitting is the easiest thing to do.” That said, let’s commit to doing the hard thing.

ENDURING IS A BETTER OPTION

Though I experienced all of that rejection, negativity, and adversity I chose to persevere. Maybe you have experienced something similar. You have to make a decision not to quit. You have to make a decision to persevere. For me, that decision is now (several years later) beginning to yield significant results. Now my name is associated with a relentless pursuit of purpose and helping others to pursue their purpose in life. That would never be my testimony if I had quit, given up or relented to the pressure. Are you on the brink of failure? Are you coming dangerously close to quitting? Have you given up on your brilliant idea? Allow me to offer a bit of encouragement to you if you answered yes to any of these questions. Endure! The fact that quitting is an option is actually what makes your success that much sweeter. However, rarely does success occur overnight. Rarely is the pinnacle of success reached without a time spent in the valley of rejection. When you and I endure then we, like Mr. Gillette, can see our ideas manifested and our purpose fulfilled.