"In his role as editor and mentor, Bob **advises aspiring cartoonists to submit their drawings in batches of ten, “because in cartooning, as in life, nine out of ten things never work out.”** "Indeed, **giving up on lower-level goals is not only forgivable, it’s sometimes absolutely necessary**. "**You should give up when one lower-level goal can be swapped for another that is more feasible. It also makes sense to switch your path when a different lower-level goal—a different means to the same end—is just more efficient, or more fun, or for whatever reason makes more sense than your original plan**. "On any long journey, detours are to be expected. "However, **the higher-level the goal, the more it makes sense to be stubborn**. Personally, I try not to get too hung up on a particular rejected grant application, academic paper, or failed experiment. The pain of those failures is real, but I don’t dwell on them for long before moving on. In contrast, **I don’t give up as easily on mid-level goals, and frankly, I can’t imagine anything that would change my ultimate aim**, my life philosophy, as Pete might say. My compass, once I found all the parts and put it together, keeps pointing me in the same direction, week after month after year. --- **Tags** -- [[quotes]], [[consistency]], [[slowing-down-not-stopping]], [[discipline]], [[progressing-slowly]], [[failure]], [[quitting]] **Source** -- [[20241030 - B - Grit]] **See Also** -- [[202405061225 - AtN - Knowing when to quit can be a superpower]]