---
name: should-i-quit-or-push
description: "Get an honest read on whether to quit or keep going on a project, job, hobby, or goal that's become a slog — distinguishing a dip worth pushing through from a dead end worth leaving. Use when asked should I quit this, is it time to give up on, push through or walk away, or I don't know if I should keep going. Produces a diagnosis of whether you're in a temporary dip or a genuine dead end, the sunk-cost and identity traps clouding the call, honest signals pointing each way, and a clear push / pivot / quit recommendation — because both quitting too early and quitting too late are expensive."
---

# Should I Quit or Push

Every worthwhile thing has a slog in the middle — a dip where it stops being fun and isn't yet paying off. Push through the dip and you win; but push through a genuine dead end and you waste years. The whole skill is telling them apart, past the sunk-cost fog and the "I'm not a quitter" identity story. This gives an honest read and a real recommendation, not just "follow your heart."

## What This Skill Produces

- **Dip or dead end?** — the core diagnosis: is this a temporary hard patch that gets better if you push, or a structural dead end that won't?
- **The traps clouding it** — sunk cost ("I've put so much in"), identity ("quitting means I failed"), and fear-of-the-unknown, named so they stop distorting the call
- **Signals each way** — the honest indicators pointing toward push vs. toward quit
- **The recommendation** — push through / pivot (change the approach, not the goal) / quit — with the reasoning
- **A face-saving exit or a re-commitment** — depending on the call, how to actually do it

## Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:
- **The thing** — the project, job, hobby, relationship, or goal
- **Why it's hard now** — what's making you consider quitting
- **What you've invested** — time, money, identity (the sunk-cost pull)
- **The original why** — what you wanted from it, and whether that's still live
- **What's on the other side** — of both pushing through and quitting

## Framework: Dip vs. Dead End

1. **Diagnose the slog.** A dip improves if you push (skills compound, it's temporary, the goal's still valuable). A dead end doesn't (the fundamentals are broken, the goal's no longer wanted, no path forward). Determine which.
2. **Expose the traps.** Sunk cost ("I can't stop now") and identity ("I don't quit") keep people in dead ends; fear keeps them from good quits. Name what's operating.
3. **Read the honest signals.** List the real indicators each way — is it hard because it's growing you, or hard because it's wrong?
4. **Separate goal from approach.** Sometimes the answer isn't quit or push — it's *pivot*: keep the goal, change the path.
5. **Recommend and enable.** Give a clear call, and either how to quit well (guilt-free, face-saving) or how to re-commit with a renewed plan.

## Output Format

### The thing: [project/job/goal] · considering quitting because [x]

**Dip or dead end?** [temporary dip that improves with pushing / genuine dead end] — because [signals].
**Traps clouding this:** [sunk cost / identity / fear] — set them aside.
**Signals to push:** [x]. **Signals to quit:** [y].
**Recommendation:** [push through / pivot the approach / quit] — because [reasoning].
**How to do it:** [re-commit plan / a clean, guilt-free exit].

## Quality Checks
- [ ] Diagnoses dip vs. dead end explicitly
- [ ] Names the sunk-cost/identity/fear traps at play
- [ ] Lists honest signals both ways
- [ ] Considers pivot, not just binary quit/push
- [ ] Gives a clear recommendation with reasoning
- [ ] Provides a way to actually quit well or re-commit

## Anti-Patterns
- **"Never give up"** platitudes that trap people in dead ends.
- **"Follow your heart"** with no actual diagnosis.
- **Letting sunk cost** drive the recommendation.
- **Binary quit/push** when pivot is the answer.
- **No clear call.**

## Example Trigger Phrases
- "Should I quit my side project? It's become a slog."
- "Is it time to give up on this business, or push through?"
- "I don't know if I should keep going with this degree."
- "Push through or walk away — I can't tell anymore."
- "Am I quitting too early, or is this genuinely a dead end?"