“Don’t stop now; you’ve invested so much time!”
We’ve all told ourselves some variation of that line. But when we do, we aren’t using logic. Let’s say you’ve been working on a novel (or an album, or a degree, or a business venture…whatever! Anything!) for quite some time, and it just isn’t getting off the ground. Maybe you’ve shifted your focus to other things, or maybe it just isn’t feasible right now.
In any case, sticking with something you’re no longer passionate about only because you’ve already invested a lot of time/money/energy into it is falling prey to the sunk cost fallacy. That’s not to say you should go and be a quitter–but that in some cases, we get so caught up on not wanting to be a quitter that we bog ourselves down on projects or ideas that just aren’t the best use of our resources.
In my latest post on the Grammarly blog, I cover everything the sunk cost fallacy is…and how to recognize it before it keeps you bound to something that’s no longer serving you. Check it out here. Knowing how to recognize the sunk cost fallacy can help you avoid it, which can help you avoid, well, sinking resources into projects that just aren’t worth the cost.
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