Take a few moments to look at back on your career. During the past ten years

what do you wish you had not given up on or quit? We don't like to look at

our failures, but this is an important step in your success as a cancer

registrar. You may be thinking of a moment that now makes you shake your

head and ask, "What was I thinking?"

Here is the answer. It is easier to quit than it is to see challenges

through. It's easier to walk away from conflict than to stick it out.

It's easier to blame someone else than it is to take accountability for

your own actions. And, it is definitely easier to not participate in an

activity than it is to face people that you think are not supportive of you

or your work. But, when we choose to quit, we pay a very high price for our

actions and many of us have already paid that price.

So, now is the time for cancer registrars to stop quitting, stop walking away

and stop avoiding challenges. It is time to be accountable, self-assured,

knowledgeable and comfortable with who you are, what you do and what you

know. Ultimately, challenges are good for us and help us build endurance

which is a powerful tool in the cancer registrar's arsenal.

How do you build endurance? You do this by learning how to crash through

those quitting points. Here's what I mean. You've spent the last three

days and 40+ hours working on your annual report. You're tired, frustrated

and just worn out. You grab your report and head over to Cancer Committee

where you present your results. One member of the team sighs, throws his pen

down on the table and says something like, "Why is it that every year, year

after year, we have to listen to you make excuses for why the data is not

right? Are you the cancer registrar or not? What is wrong with you? I'm

done with this program and I'm fed up with not getting paid to sit here and

listen to this nonsense!" Sound familiar?

At that moment you are definitely at a quitting point. You want to throw in

the towel, walk away, or quit your job. But, quitting is not glamorous and

does not build character or your professional reputation. So, what do you

do?

You take a breath, straighten yourself up and determine that you are going to

take the situation one step further and to crash through the wall and

quitting point. You resolve to step through the problem with your head held

high. You decide, at that moment, that you are not going to let another

person's tirade determine who you are or what your capabilities are, and

that you are stronger and worthy of everyone's trust and support.

When you adopt this mindset of crashing through the quitting points you will

be amazed at how you will grow, develop your professional reputation and earn

the trust of others. You will be more creative in your problem-solving and

be more successful for having gone through it. That's what crashing

through a quitting point is all about.