The Trying Loop · also called perpetual attempt
why does saying I am working on it feel safer than finishing
The trying loop is staying indefinitely in "I’m trying to quit" or "I’m working on it," where the ongoing attempt becomes a comfortable identity that never has to resolve into either quitting or admitting you will not. It gets the sympathy of someone in progress without ever risking the verdict of a final result.
Trying does not have an end date. That is the whole appeal of it.
What to do about it
Pick a date within the next seven days and declare it the day the trying ends — either it is done, or you admit out loud that you have stopped trying.
Books that work on this
Each is a 90-day programme. Start with the first — later books assume the work in the earlier ones.
Faith In Work$6.99
No Empty Years$6.99
The Stewardship Year$6.99
The Purpose Blueprint$6.99
Find Your Fight$6.99
Midlife Is Audit$6.99
Drift Is Enemy$6.99
Faith Without Apology$6.99Part of the Purpose series.
How people say it
Nobody looks this up by its clinical name. These are the ways it actually gets said.
- I have been trying to quit this for over a year
- why does saying I am working on it feel safer than finishing
- I am always in the process and never at the result
- I have said I am quitting so many times it stopped meaning anything
- trying has become the whole habit
- I get credit for effort I never actually convert into a result
- why do I stay in the attempt forever instead of just deciding
- I have been about to stop for months
Written by Brian Spiker, who has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — the receipts. More terms in the encyclopedia.