Why Do Most People Quit Too Early

Being calm in the quiet phase - when nothing looks like it’s working

Most people don’t fail because they’re doing the wrong things.

They fail because they stop doing the right things… too early.

In this episode, I break down the reality of delayed gratification, especially in environments where effort and results are separated by time.

 Because when nothing seems to be happening…
 that’s usually when the real work is taking place. 

Drawing from over a decade of building from scratch - new markets, cold desks, and revenue lines—this episode unpacks what’s actually going on during the “quiet phase,” and why so many people misread it.

In this episode:

•  The real timeline behind progress and momentum 
•  Why effort doesn’t pay back immediately 
•  The psychology of the quiet phase 
•  Why most people quit too early 
•  The role of consistency and compounding 
•  A note for leaders on misjudging performance 

If things feel slow, uncertain, or like nothing’s landing, this is the phase most people don’t make it through.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to The Way I See It. Short thoughts on work, life, and the decisions in between and why we tend to overcomplicate all three. Straight from the front line of modern business, grab a coffee, grab a pad, and let's get into it. Welcome to another episode of The Way I See It. This week we're going to look at delayed gratification, being calm in the quiet. Everyone ultimately says that they would want success in some form or other. More money, more freedom, more control. But very few people are built for the part that I suppose comes first. The silence, the uncertainty. The months where nothing seems to happen or pay off. So naturally pressure builds, doubt creeps in. Because in reality, effort doesn't pay you back immediately. It often delays it. So there's a pattern I've seen play out over and over again. Months 0 to 3, you're doing the work, nothing comes back. Months 3 to 6, you you often get signs of life, but no tangible results. Months 6 to 9, things again start moving, but a little bit quicker. And then months 9 to 12, you start to see some more momentum, potentially some tangible results as well. And people say, oh, it just clicked, you just got it right. It it didn't, it compounded. And what you're seeing at month 12 was built back in month three. So I've spent over a decade working in kind of multiple sales environments, and never the kind where you inherit something that's already working. I've pretty much always been brought in to build out. So starting in at IT and tech sales, building out a really established network across the UK and Europe, setting up desks, setting up divisions that didn't exist before, building out disciplines in countries I hadn't worked or lived in before, being brought into businesses to create structure, systems, revenue lines. So I've literally lived this cycle multiple times. And if I'm honest, even now knowing exactly how it works, delayed gratification still isn't the easiest thing in the world to manage. You don't just get used to it, you just get better at recognizing it and sitting in the uncomfortable and the silence. There's a part no one really explains properly. There's always a lag between effort and outcome, and the lag naturally creates doubt because as humans we're wired for immediate feedback. So, for example, the gym, you go once, twice, you feel it, you're sore, you feel like you've done something, you've achieved something, then you naturally keep going, same exercises, same movements, same routine. For a while, nothing really changes, and then suddenly you hit a stage where your body starts to shift, your strength goes up, your physique changes, but the results didn't just happen that week, it came from the weeks of repetition before that that maybe didn't look like you know it was working at the time, or on another completely random kind of example, planting something, putting the work up front, you plant it, you water it, you look after it, you nurture it. For a period, nothing breaks the surface. Looks like nothing's happening. But underneath there's movement, the roots are building, the structures forming. But if you stop during that phase where you can't visibly see the results because you think it's not working, then you kill it before it's ever had a chance to actually grow. But in business, in careers, in anything meaningful, you can do everything right and never get well not never, but get nothing back for months. That kind of disconnect is what typically would break people. So I've had multiple situations like this where working something for months, conversations, follow-ups, building trust, position things properly, and nothing lands, and then out of nowhere, two or three things close within a short window, and people on the outside say, Well, yeah, things are going well for them, for the company, for whoever. But what they didn't see was that six to nine months before that, where it looked like nothing was happening, everyone's an overnight success, but no one sees the 15 years that have gone before it leading up to that moment. So this isn't just for sales either. Obviously, I know it's always going to be a little bit sales-driven just because of my background, but just anything worth building, whether it's your business, your career, your fitness, relationships, delayed gratification isn't a mindset, it's a structure. What you do today ultimately pays you later. So most people don't necessarily fail because they're doing the wrong things. They fail because they stop doing the right things too early. They misread the quiet, they think it isn't working. When the truth is it hasn't had time to work yet. So they they often change direction, pivot, lose consistency, lose focus, maybe start again. And every time they reset, they reset the clock. And listen, this isn't just for individuals, leaders, senior management, CEOs. They do this as well. They'll hire well, they expect an immediate output. When it doesn't show up fast enough in their time frame, they question the hire. Um yeah, was it a mishire? But in a delayed return environment, you're not always going to see performance in real time. Sometimes you see in someone mid-build. So if you cut it too early and you don't remove the risk, basically remove future return. I've had plenty of periods where personally I knew I was doing exactly the right things because I've been there and done that and I've seen success. Right conversations, right people, right approach. And still you sat in that period where nothing's landing, nothing seems to be happening. And one week feels like progress, the next week feels like nothing. But that's the part that no one really talks about or discusses because logically you understand it, but emotionally it still gets to you. So if you do operate in a any form of delayed return environment, which which most people will, the edge is simple. Stay consistent and stay in the game longer than most people. Don't have to be louder, don't have to be smarter, just stay there longer because relationships compound, trust compounds, reputation compounds, the work you're doing now will compound. And most people just don't stay long enough to collect on that. And I honestly feel it's really key to reiterate that relationships, most importantly, will compound. It's not an overnight thing, it's how people are wired, even for myself. The I suppose the self-proclaimed ambivert we kind of discussed on the previous episode. I I'll watch people, I'll analyse people, I'll I'll take stock of how they interact with others, how they interact with me, how they position themselves, how they deal with people. And it's just the same in business. You you want to watch, you want to see how things develop, grow, and then it compounds in time. So if you are in the quiet phase right now, don't confuse the lack of results with a lack of progress. Just ask yourself: am I doing the right things? Am I doing them consistently? And have I given them enough time? And ultimately, if you are doing those and you don't need a new plan, you just need more runway. So most people don't fail because they're not good enough. They fail because they stop too early. And the hardest part of building anything isn't the work, it's the continuing when nothing's telling you that it's working. So if you do take anything from this, take this. Most people quit in the quiet phase. That's why it works for the ones who don't. If it feels slow, uncertain, like nothing's happening, good. Because that's what building looks like before it pays you. So don't break it just because it hasn't rewarded you yet. Let it compound. Don't interrupt something that hasn't had time to pay you back yet. And as a leader, if you lead people, don't mistake timing for performance. Some of the best people may look average until they deliver something exceptional. That's the way I see it. And more importantly, the way I've seen it. If it resonates, share it with someone who wants to hear it.