Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you’ve dedicated time, effort and/or money to something and that makes it difficult to see when it’s time to let it go?

That’s called the sunk cost fallacy and it can be really hard sometimes to recognise when that’s what you’re experiencing and do something about it.

For example, maybe you’ve bought tickets to an event. When the day rolls around, maybe something else has come up that you’d much rather do. But, just because you’ve spent money on the first thing, you feel as if you ought to go to that, even though you don’t want to any more.

Or maybe you’ve spent a bunch of time and effort working on a project that isn’t working out the way you want it to. But you keep slogging away at it, even though it’s making you miserable, because you feel as if you’ve come so far and you need to see it through.

But think about it like this. Putting more time, effort or money into something that you’re not going to enjoy, or that you’re never going to succeed at just makes the situation worse, not better.

You’re compounding the problem by keeping at it, rather than solving the problem by walking away.

Whatever you decide to do in this kind of situation, it’s important to remember that any time, effort and/or money you’ve put into something has already been spent regardless – you’re not getting it back.

So, there’s no point going to an event you’ve paid for, when you’re going to spend the whole time being annoyed that you’re not doing the other, much more fun thing you had the opportunity to do. And there’s no purpose in persevering with something that’s just going to waste more of your time, when you could put that time to better use.

It’s not a failing to admit defeat, let something go, and move on to something else that might end up being more enjoyable or more successful. In fact, in my view, that’s a sign of tremendous strength and character.

Your brain can trick you into thinking something is worthwhile, just because it doesn’t want to admit the time, effort and/or money you’ve already put into it has been wasted. But you can break free from this harmful habit. Learn to shrug your shoulders, say, “Oh well, never mind,” and move on without guilt or recrimination!

Next time you find yourself in a sunk cost fallacy situation, give this technique a try – and don’t forget to let me know how you get on!

 

You can email me at wisebearstanley@gmail.com

You can buy my book (all about building a better relationship with yourself).

You can sign up for my monthly newsletter.

And don’t forget to follow me on Instagram – @wisebearstanley – for cute photos, advice videos and meditation with Moomintroll!

You can also find me on Twitter and Bluesky – @wisebearstanley

And here’s where you can buy Stanley merch!