Happy National Quitters Day! The second Friday in January is the day by which most people break their New Years’ resolutions. The tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions began some 4,000 years ago with the ancient Babylonians (although they dinner in March at the solstice.)

My father taught me that “quitters never win and winners never quit”- he had sign on his desk…but I realized in business that “winners know when to quit”.

The famous restauranteur, Richard Melman of “Lettuce Entertain You” fame knew when to keep the new restaurant open and pivot or when to close it because it was not going to work long term.

As Will Rogers said “When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you have to do is stop digging.”

Too many small business owners learn this too late after they have invested their life savings and then some in a failing company (that they are borrowing money from the bank to keep it afloat). This was a hard lesson for me, because I was one of those that never ever gave up. I still don’t in cycling or hiking today. But, I have learned this can be a very expensive lesson when it comes to business.

Remember, financial success in business is not about winning and losing. It’s not a winner take all in some high-risk game. It may seem like that in the retelling of the highly successful businessperson’s tale,  but that’s not how it truly happened. Only in retrospect does it seem like the billionaire but it on black in roulette and won!

Success is about patient iterative steps. In a immediate gratification society, this is hard.

When you have a success, ask yourself what the next step is you can take to build on it. Don’t assume that you now have the magic touch.

When there is a failure, learn what you can (sometimes nothing), mourn the loss, but then immediately let go and take action that gives you another chance of success.

What we should remember about National Quitters Day is sometimes, when you quit, it leads to a successful path.