12. Knowing when to quit

Sometimes you just can’t win, or more importantly, the cost of winning is just too high.  When the American religious right targeted our teen magazine, Sassy, I guess the prudent thing to have done was to have buckled under, and done what they wanted, which was to drop the 1% of editorial content which was sex education.  But I let the backers terminate my contract rather than capitulate, and 15 years later, I don’t regret the choice I made.

So despite everything I’ve said today, there does come a time to all of us when we have to decide just how much we are prepared to compromise before we call it quits.

Compromise in pursuit of an important and winnable goal is a useful tool – compromise which produces only futility and regrets is a waste of time. 

That's never a decision to be taken quickly or lightly, but whatever else, the decision to bail out of a painful or difficult situation can be enormously re-energising.

A great career in business is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on.
 
It’s exhilarating, challenging, and rewarding, and these days as we step up to taking responsibility for our own economic independence, it’s vital that we optimize our chances of success.

I hope the some of the ideas I’ve shared with you today help you make the most of your career.  If you have as much fun as I have, you'll have a blast!