I desired to do a quick little message on the concept of the “sunk cost fallacy.”
The sunk cost fallacy is what happens when we continue to commit resources on the basis of “I already spent so much, I can’t change course now.” Have you ever wondered why a business owner would continue putting themselves into deeper debt in a failing business? The thought is “I’ve put in so much already, a little bit more and it’ll improve.” How often do we fall into this trap, where we continue to dedicate resources in the thought that we are just on the cusp of victory?
I wanted to bring this up in terms of how we view our own progress, in that we keep attempting something continually in the hopes that victory is right there, if only you try a little harder. What I would like to highlight is how often we correctly perceive the effectiveness of what we are doing compared to our goals. What I mean by this is: Are you doing a form of training, or education, in a way that is still giving you meaningful results and that you are not simply just doing it because you’ve spent so much time there already? As Jedi, we often attempt to think long term, in that we understand that our goals aren’t going to be realized today or tomorrow, but that we will something in a few years.
This also, unfortunately, leads us to the arrogance of presumption that gives us that fatal thought, that all we need to do is put more effort in. We become so afraid of “losing progress” that we don’t realize that the progress we are worried about losing is either of low quality or is actually taking us backwards. What I wish to encourage everyone is, especially as we are moving into that time of year where we evaluate our goals and focus, is that we examine closely if our methods are truly giving us what we want, or if there is a need for change?
This upcoming year, I implore you to examine your methods and the results, are they really getting the results you desire? Are you simply pushing out effort because you’ve already put so much out already, or are you actually building upon your dreams? It’s sometimes hard to cut some of these things from our lives, but that’s also why we try to avoid attachments isn’t it? It is so that when we begin to review ourselves, our lives, even our methods, we can avoid that sunk cost fallacy in all things, it prevents us from choosing to stay in a rut because it’s comfortable.
I hope that our progress in the new year rushes on unhindered, that we can push forward without being attached to inefficient methods!
