“You don’t lose when you lose. You lose when you quit.”

Karen and I were watching the 20^th anniversary of the awarding of Canada’s Walk of Fame last night.  One of the recipients was Jim Pattison, a Canadian business magnate, investor and philanthropist based in Vancouver, British Columbia.  There was a little surprise for him when he was brought up to stage when his friend, Warren Buffett, came out to assist in the presentation and honouring.

These two great businessmen bantered about for a few minutes and eventually Pattison was asked for three life-long lessons learned in his journey.

One of those was, “You don’t lose when you lose.  You lose when you quit.”  

Over my professional life, I have gone down many roads that I eventually discovered were a mistake.  This journey, I thought at the time, was not going to end well.  Once I came to that realization, I always asked the question Should I quit? Should I cancel the event, or quit the job or cancel the campaign?

Truthfully, sometimes I did cancel or quit.  It was easier, quicker and less painful.

But was it the right thing to do?  Well, the answers is sometimes – but in my mind, and with my experience, the answer is more often “Don’t quit.  Don’t stop. Keep going.  Finish what you started.”  Yes, it will not go down as a winner but it also won’t go down as a bail out and that is important to you, your brand and your audience. 

As Jim Pattison says “You don’t lose when you lose.”