Sometimes in life we come up against certain individuals who press our buttons or challenge us, which can result in behaving in ways we aren’t necessarily proud of. Sometimes there are people with who, however hard we try, are just not in the right space to hear it or just don’t want to.
This is not a new concept.
I’m going to be completely honest with you – quiet quitting it’s not my concept. I’ve read about it many times but this particular version, I came across in the book by the wonderful Nedra Glover Tawwab.
How does it work?
The idea behind quietly quitting is that you don’t always have to or need to have the last say in something. In fact, sometimes you don’t need to say anything at all – you quietly quit from the situation.
How do I resolve things?
Now when I first read about this my instant reaction was ‘well, how do things get resolved then?’ But it’s all about choice. Quiet quitting is about what battles you need to fight, what conversations are useful, which of those won’t make any difference and when is the time to recognise by being quiet and walking away it’s far more helpful to both parties.
So, how does this version of quiet quitting play out?
Here’s an example –
There is a friend or member of family that you just don’t see eye to eye with. You’ve tried various ways to communicate, and you keep reaching a stalemate, but they seem to be intent on arguing their way through it. You have a choice – you can keep the toxic communication going or you can quietly quit.
Walk away from unwanted drama.
Quiet quitting in this instance means just that. Quit. Don’t take part, quietly walk away without any drama, and instead choose not to argue, not to fight. I’m not saying it’s easy, but I am saying that it will feel good.
If you can’t physically walk away (for whatever reason) you can mentally walk away and quietly quit. You can decide to no longer engage in the toxicity and leave them to it.
The long term benefits.
Once you have grasped the concept, you’ll find yourself applying it to different areas of your life. It won’t always be dramatic, sometimes it will just be as simple as saying to yourself “I don’t need this, I think I’ll just quietly walk away.” It feels GREAT.
You don’t always need to win!
Not needing to get your point across always, standing up for yourself when it’s really important rather than just needing to win makes life far less exhausting. Learning to quietly quit can only improve your life – what’s not to love?
