This Quitter's Day, how did you die?
This poem by Edmund Vance Cooke will force a new perspective on you. Think of it this way: what would you like to say about your efforts this year?
Quitter’s Day is the second Friday in January. It’s a point when many people abandon their New Year’s resolutions. Data from fitness apps like Strava show a significant drop in activity by mid-January, suggesting that unrealistic goals, poor planning, and fading initial motivation lead 80% of people to abandon their resolutions by this time.
How do you want to think of yourself by December 2026?
Did you tackle that trouble that came your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and fearful?
Oh, a trouble’s a ton, or a trouble’s an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it,
And it isn’t the fact that you’re hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?
You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what’s that?
Come up with a smiling face.
It’s nothing against you to fall down flat,
But to lie there -- that’s disgrace.
The harder you’re thrown, why the higher you bounce;
Be proud of your blackened eye!
It isn’t the fact that you’re licked that counts,
It’s how did you fight -- and why?
And though you be done to the death, what then?
If you battled the best you could,
If you played your part in the world of men,
Why, the Critic will call it good.
Death comes with a crawl, or comes with a pounce,
And whether he’s slow or spry,
It isn’t the fact that you’re dead that counts,
But only how did you die?
Want a quick guide to aligning your goals with the right timing? Read this:
