You have to decide when to stay and when to go, whether to stay focused where you’re already at or to move on to something new.
In the macro, these are big life decisions like moving cities, changing jobs, ending a relationship, etc.
Sometimes, even if you’ve plateaued, things are getting boring, or times are tough—it makes sense to stay if you’re close to a breakthrough, learning a valuable lesson, or if you made a promise. Other times it’s all bad and you need to go.
In the micro, these are the thoughts that run through your head. Some stay longer. Some come and go quickly, one after another.
When I write, for example, I am walking this mental tightrope between staying focused on one idea or scanning on the surface, sifting through many ideas, looking for a good one, but even when I find one that I think will be good, I can’t be sure until I stop and start to focus on it.
Most failures can be described in terms either of staying too long or going too soon.