It's Not Quitting to Let Go
Walking away is more than okay.
It’s hard to know when to cut your losses,
when to walk away,
when enough is enough.
We sink in more energy and hope while we are sinking, too.
We wonder, what if just a little more time is needed?
What if another month will save the project? Maybe just one more repair will make the damaged car run. Will more effort make the draining relationship functional?
Sometimes we have a sense, though, that what we are doing isn’t working.
But it’s hard to quit.
Economists call it the “sunk cost effect.” We keep investing more money, time, energy and effort since we’ve already spent so much — even when it makes more sense to let it go.
Perhaps it is irrational, but sunk costs easily influence human decision-making. Yet, what we have previously expended is largely irrelevant.
We have to forget past effort. What matters is today.
As Arkes & Blumer stated back in 1985, “Sunk cost promotes lingering until the bitter end” — whether it’s continuing a losing war or watching a terrible movie that we feel obligated to finish.
There is freedom in choosing to call it quits.
More options emerge for investing our limited resources once we finally accept that something we’ve tried hard to make work just isn’t working.
If you are treading water, here is some relief.
The costs are already sunk.
You don’t have to sink, too.
kek
💌 Did you like this post? Share it with a friend!
💡 Never miss a new post! Sign up for alerts here: Reflections
Comments