Everyday mindfulness and letting go of sunk costs

Image courtesy of SXU - http://www.sxc.hu/photo/812896

So I've just been reading a post over at Litemind on sunk cost bias and I've realised that the example Luciano, the article's author, gives (buying a ticket to something and then not feeling like going on the day but going anyway because you've 'already sunk the cost') is something I do all the time.

Actually, no - it's something I do about half the time. The other half the time, I'll decide not to go because I don't feel like it... and then spend the entire time feeling guilty and annoyed with myself for being so damn wasteful (or if it's something I didn't pay for, but I was going to do it with friends, annoyed with myself for letting them down; or just for not following through on something I'd decided to do). Which really makes no more sense than going and being miserable would have done.

I *definitely* do fall victim to sunk cost bias around food (I've bought it, so I should eat it; or I've put it on my plate so I should eat it), around clutter (it's meant something to me in the past, so I should keep it), and often around books (either "I've bought it, so I'm damn well going to finish it even if I'm not enjoying it" - or "I've borrowed it and started it, so I'm going to feel guilty if I hand it back unread")

I love the author's comment about zero-based thinking in the article too. This is something I recognise from my Forum days as "coming from a point of nothing", but phrased in far less jargony, less Landmark-ese terminology. This technique is something I really, really need to practice on a regular basis - I can do it when I'm already calm and something reminds me it's a choice I have, but I find it much harder when I'm caught up in the grip of a drama. Which leads, of course, to the question of how exactly I can remember to actually use the technique next time I need it. That's always my challenge - not in knowing what to do, but in remembering to choose to do it in the heat of the moment.

I guess the only way to do that is... well... to do it. First being mindful and recognising when I'm in a 'sunk cost' situation. Then acknowledging that every moment starts over and letting go. Or, in other words, practise it when I remember, avoid beating myself and just letting it go when I don't. And of course, each time I practise, it'll get that little bit easier to remember to use it next time.

It's a thought anyway...

Thoughtful blessings


Starfire