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Because we so profoundly personalize success, we miss opportunities to lift others onto the top rung. We make rules that frustrate achievement. We prematurely write people off as failures.

…quitting effectively, when the context warrants it, ought to be the definition of a happy ending. It is just hard for us to see it that way because we process quitting as failure.

We are much more concerned with errors of commission than errors of omission (failures to act).

There is no longer honor in spending every last bit of investor money pursuing an endeavor that’s failing. Returning capital to investors is the responsible choice under those circumstances and demonstrates the ability to make the hard decision when it’s the right thing to do.

Finish lines are funny things. You either reach them or you don’t. You either succeed or you fail. There is no in between. Progress along the way matters very little.

The pass-fail nature of goals impedes your progress because it stops you from starting things for fear of being unable to complete them.

Progress along the way should count for something, but we discard it because goals are pass-fail, all-or-nothing, yes-or no. There’s no partial credit given.

Altogether, the pass-fail nature of goals can impede progress, cause escalation of commitment, and stop us from considering the progress we make along the way as success.

Exacerbating the pass-fail problem is that once we establish a goal, we rarely revisit it. Goals tend to be set-it-and-forget-it. The finish line doesn’t move.

…the pass-fail and fixed nature of goals causes us to just keep on toward the finish line, even when the finish line is no longer what we should be running toward.