One of the studies I mentioned in my book involved 20,000 who were considering some significant change in their lives. They flipped a digital coin. Heads meant making the change. Tails meant staying put.
Six months later, those who made the change were significantly happier than those who had stayed with the status quo. Steven Levitt (from Freakonomics), who led the study, concluded that most of us are too cautious when considering a change.
Of course, we might be too hasty in making a decision, and some people are more reckless than others. In the words of comedian Jack Black, "YOLO is just carpe diem for stupid people."
Still, most of us could use more courage. Behavioral economists talk about a bunch of biases that lead us to fail to make the change we need. There's the sunk cost fallacy, the endowment effect, loss aversion, and the status quo bias.
Winners often quit so that they can dedicate themselves to other activities that match their gifts and interests. If we've tried our best and it’s still not working, it may be time to move on.