To pivot or to persevere? Or more bluntly – to give up or to not to give up? This is a haunting question, a question that has ramifications far after an answer has been chosen and it’s also a question that almost everyone in our community has had to face at one time or another. How do you know when to give up and when to keep trying?

Shupier Jones | Author, Actress & Entrepreneur

Simple enough: you only need to determine whether God has given you explicit instructions on how to proceed with the circumstances you are facing at this time. Receiving divine guidance sustains your perseverance as it affirms the necessity of progressing despite the prevailing conditions. When the moment comes to release, you will experience a sensation akin to a burden being instantaneously alleviated from your shoulders. You will come to the realization that you have forfeited a significant amount more than you have acquired. You will lose your personality and your sense of where God wants you to go at times. This is when it’s time to let go and let God. Read more>>

Shaina Aldridge | Braider/Natural hairstylist

To give up is never an option for me. One thing I’ve learned in life is that failing is necessary but to give up is simply quitting. I don’t know what to fix if I don’t fail. I don’t know how to become better if I don’t fail. Failing gives me the opportunity to try again. Failing awakens my ability to be greater and do greater things. Failing hurts, but it’s a part of my growth, my story. To give up to me simply means to quit. It means to stop trying. It means to walk away. If something doesn’t work out, it just doesn’t work out. So if I ever “gave up” it wasn’t because I threw the towel in but it’s because I gave it my best and it just wasn’t meant to be. Read more>>

Nicole Lockley | Actress & Entrepreneur

You never give up on your ultimate goal, the bigger picture. Now along the way you may run into circumstances that might cause a pause, a break, a disruption in your path to your ultimate goal, but you never fully give up on it. You do whatever you can to get back on the path to where you’re trying to go. Read more>>