"When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think."

Robert "Bob" Parsons is an American entrepreneur, billionaire, and philanthropist who is perhaps best known for founding GoDaddy Inc. in 1997.  He sold approximately 70% of GoDaddy and resigned his position as CEO in 201, and he stepped down as the Executive Chairman in 2014.  Parsons and his wife started The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation in 2012 and joined The Giving Pledge in 2013, an initiative started by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett that requires signatories to commit at least half of their fortunes to charity.

Parsons recently posted what he calls, "My 16 Rules" on his blog.  They are actually pretty good, so please check them out for yourself.  I was particularly impressed with his rules #2 and #3.  Both of these rules state essentially the same thing, and I could certainly summarize both with the well-known quip, "Quitters never win and winners never quit!"

Rule #2 states, "Never give up!" It's important to keep pushing until the job is done.  Parsons says, "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity."   

I like Rule #3 even better, which says, "When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think."  Parsons recalls an ancient Chinese proverb that is absolutely perfect.  It says, "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."

I am reminded of the epic boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier on October 1, 1975 (the "Thrilla in Manila").  Ali and Frazier had boxed twice before (Frazier had won the first match in 1971 to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, while Ali won the second match in 1974).  The third match would again determine the heavyweight boxing champion and was called the "Thrilla in Manila" based upon Ali's boast that the fight would be "a killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila."  

The fight started early in the morning, but even at 10 AM the conditions were unbelievably poor for a 15-round boxing match (the temperature at ringside in the aluminum-roofed Phillippine Coliseum was estimated to be about 120°F).  One of Frazier's ringside staff members said, "It was so intensely hot, I've never before felt heat like that in my life.  Not a breath of air - nothing. And that was sitting there.  Can you imagine being in the ring? I don't know how they did it."

The fight lasted 14 rounds and is widely considered one of the greatest fights in boxing history.  Ali clearly took over the fight in the later rounds, partly due to the fact that Frazier's eyes had almost swollen shut (Frazier's team was unable to apply ice bags to his face between rounds due to the oppressive heat - the ice continued to melt!).  Both men were exhausted, and perhaps both men were beat.  Unbeknownst to Frazier's team, Ali had told his manager, Angelo Dundee to cut off his gloves after the end of the 14th round, but Dundee refused.  Instead, it was Frazier's manager, Eddie Futch who stopped the fight, telling his boxer, "It's all over.  No one will forget what you did here today."

Ali wanted to give up.  He would tell his biographer, Thomas Hauser later, "Frazier just quit before I did.  I didn't think I could fight anymore."  In other words, he was tempted to quit and tried to do so - his manager simply did not let him.  

Times are tough.  We are all dealing with unbelievably hard circumstances and are being asked to do things that we've never had to do in the past.  Some of the decisions that we are being asked to make are incredibly difficult.  The easiest thing would be to just quit.  But we shouldn't.  Because we are just about ready to turn the corner and succeed.