Most people don’t quit at the start. They quit at chapter seven, one page before it gets good.

The dangerous point is not the beginning, when everything is novel, but the stretch where the novelty has gone and the payoff has not arrived. That is where the effort feels largest relative to the evidence, and where stopping looks like a sensible decision rather than a surrender. Plenty of people stop just short of the part that would have justified it.

When you feel the urge to quit, check whether anything has changed or whether you are in the middle. Commit to a fixed additional stretch before deciding. Often the answer is not to push harder but to keep going a little longer.