Walking away from something early can be the most grown-up move you ever make.

Staying is often treated as the mature option, when the harder and more adult skill is judging accurately and acting before the cost piles up. Leaving something early means saying a judgment out loud while everyone else is still committed, and taking the awkwardness that comes with it. Most people wait far past the point where they already knew.

If something in your life is clearly wrong for you, pay attention to what you are actually waiting for, because it is often permission. Give yourself a date, tell one person, and go. Early exits are cheaper in every way than late ones.