Sunk Costs

It’s one of the most profound and difficult lessons every MBA is taught: Ignore sunk costs. Money and effort you spent yesterday should have nothing to do with decisions you make tomorrow, because each decision is a new one.

Seth Godin

Sunk costs have more to do with everyday decisions than we realize. It isn’t just a hard lesson for the life of a business. It’s a hard lesson for the business of life.

Life especially life in the United States is just prone to constant accumulation. Have anyone of you ever gone looking for an item you have many multiples of? Think scissors, tape, pacifiers, working pencil… I am sure you have your own list. Even now as we approach the Christmas season we are surrounded by ads and marketing that appeal to gather!

With all this accumulation, eventually, we realize that some of what we’ve added may actually be hindering us from moving forward. We then come to the need for subtraction or we find ourselves with a cluttered mess. This mess reveals itself not only in our environments but also in our minds and spirit.

When I find myself sunk down in the mess that surrounds me I have to refocus on my goals and leave somethings behind.

Sunk Costs in my life look like:

• Books I will never finish. I pull them out and think I will get to them without any plan.
• Curriculum and texts that I began but for which don’t work for my students.
• Apps on my phone that I paid for but again don’t use.
• A hoard of stationery I keep buying but don’t intend to start a letter-writing habit.
• A digital course I purchased that doesn’t apply to my current situation or need.
• Anything belonging to my parent or grandparent that is broken and beyond repair.
• A course I have written without my audience’s needs in mind.

Consider your list. Where have you invested your time, talent or treasure into something that isn’t panning out or isn’t helping you reach into your preferred future?

When we can’t move ahead because of decisions we have made yesterday we need to realize we are holding on to something that will not help us go where we want to go.

Delete, eliminate, give away whatever it takes. It’s a hard lesson. But it’s harder still to hold on. Let it go.