Our brains make subconscious mistakes every day. I am seriously stunned at some of the subliminal blunders our minds are conditioned to respond with!
I'm a big believer that self awareness and improvement should be something we strive for every day. If we are not trying to be the best we can be, then whats the point, right? By knowing our unfortunately programmed mistakes in thinking, we can recognize them, then take steps to avoid them.
One of my favorites, and probably the most harmful (financially and otherwise) thought mistakes is the Sunk Cost fallacy.
The Sunk Cost Fallacy has us gravitating toward things we already lost.
The term sunk cost refers to a cost that has already been paid and cannot be retrieved or recovered. It does not have to mean money; it can refer to time or effort, too. It is a proven fact that the expenditure of time and effort can have an even greater value than cash because once you have lost time and spent your effort you can't get it back.
Chances are pretty high that even if you consider yourself a rational human being, you've fallen for the sunk cost fallacy many times.
It happens at restaurants. You are full, but you are paying for the entire dish no matter what, so you might as well finish the whole thing. "Might as well not waste it."
It happens in relationships. You realize you are unhappy after a year and a half. But you have already invested 18 months of time and effort, so you stay, sometimes with hopes that your investment will pay off because they will realize how very much you have given thus far.
When we invest time, money or effort into something, we develop an attachment to it and justify some pretty irrational behavior. Even though it's already been paid for, we cannot ignore the cost because we are wired on a genetic level to feel loss more than gain. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman explains:
This is such a strong mind mistake that when you look at it from the outside in, such as we are reading about it now, we can see the best choice glaring us in the face. This study in 1985 is a beautiful example:
The sunk-cost fallacy misleads us to make irrational decisions based upon our emotions- and emotional thinking is usually never good- while blatantly ignoring the logical facts before us.
And the worst part is we don't even realize we are doing so!
The fallacy prohibits you from comprehending the fact that the best choice is to do what is the best thing for you now and in the future as opposed to the one that rescinds a feeling of loss.
So how do you free yourself from the sunk cost fallacy chains?
By reading this post you are taking that leap. Because it is a subconscious reaction, the best thing you can do is realize you are doing it. At that point your logical mind takes over and can overrule the irrational response.
For instance, look at the vacations: Your logical mind would choose the cheaper yet funner holiday.
You must remember that you can’t get your investment back. It’s gone. Never allow it to cloud your judgment in the decisions you make in this moment.
And you're going to have to chalk up the past loss as just that and let it remain in the past :)
Live your life for a happy today and comfortable future.
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