After my announcement from Wednesday that I left Google, a bunch of people have asked me how one knows when it’s time to call it quits. It’s the classic question: When do you know when your company (or your job) has turned into a dead horse which you’re just beating and beating? Or on the other hand: When is it worth putting your nose to the grindstone and just get through it. Keep up the hope. Take it day by day.
The honest truth is — I don’t know. Actually I do know. And so do you: You know when you’ve come to the point of walking away from something. It’s visceral. It’s clear. And you also know when the fire is still burning and there is hope.
All you have to do is to listen to your gut. As long as there is hope and you enjoy doing what you’re doing — go for it. Once the flame is extinct — have the guts to call it a day.
Sometimes you can pull a Pandora (Pandora’s founder famously overcame setback after setback before he took the company public) and sometimes you just have to walk. Either way — listen to your gut.