How to Have a Great Life

Chapter 14Have the Courage to Quit … Sometimes

I've a lot of admiration for my mate Dave. Several years ago, he gained a Guinness record for memorizing Pi to 22,500 digits. He trained for over six months. Recalling all those digits took over four hours (imagine being the adjudicator for that one). But here's what's interesting (although I don't think that's quite the word Dave would have used) – after initially recalling 18,000 digits he got one wrong. Bummer, eh?

So, he had a choice: quit and miss out on the record or come back the next day and start all over again.

He came back the next day, failed a further three times, changed his strategy, and eventually claimed the record.

Dave, along with countless other people, had refused to quit ...