Notice anything different about us this week?
Well if you’ve been a long-time reader of the newsletter, you’ll know we recently had a name change.
High on the excitement from the publication of my first book Cash is Queen, I decided I wanted to change the newsletter to that name too. So pre-Christmas, full of vim, I changed it. (If you know me, you’ll know I’m nothing if not swift once I’ve made up my mind).
And instantly regretted it.
I mean I tried to make peace with it. Week after week I persevered, hoping it would grow on me. It didn’t, yet I clung on. Why? Because it seemed so monumental and reverting to the old name would almost feel like conceding defeat.
It reminded me of a phenomenon known as Sunk Cost Fallacy.
And some of the ways we trip ourselves up by clinging on to things long past their sell-by date, because we feel we have committed too much time, too many resources and simply too much energy to abandon ship.
In our love lives it might show up as being afraid to leave a toxic relationship because we’re worried we won’t find anyone else.
In our careers, it’s climbing a ladder we no longer wish to ascend, because we’ve been climbing it for 15 years, and even though we now want to do something else, we won’t for fear that getting off will render us irrelevant.
And in money it’s refusing to engage with our pensions because we feel we’ve left it too late so why bother, we’ve already committed to winging it after all.
If reading any of these things makes you cringe with recognition, keep reading, because it’s time to start calculating the cost.
And not the sunk ones either. But the opportunity cost.
If you’re a Rainmaker you’ll already know that a big part of what we cover when it comes to any aspect of our wealth creation, is about our willingness to take action. To choose and to recognise that a level of discernment is required to help us decide which course of action to pursue.
Having the knowledge is one thing. But as with anything that requires transformational change, the difference that makes the difference is action. Overcoming the inertia that roots us to the spot and sees us freeze.
If you’re wedded so closely to the sunk costs associated with decisions you’ve already made, decisions which no longer serve you (we’re not talking about the ones that are reaping great benefits for the avoidance of doubt), then in effect you’re blocking your own blessings, impeding your growth, and delaying the benefits that come from living a full and authentic life.
That risk you’re afraid to take, could be the one that changes your entire life
Suddenly instead of looking like a cost-saving (time, energy, money), these decisions end up coming with a hefty price tag attached.
Do you really want to wake up with that nagging feeling that we’re selling ourselves short at work?
Stay in that dead relationship because you’re worried about what others will think or about how much time you’ve already spent in it?
And do you want to continue to make bad money decisions because you’ve got this far on your wits alone and allow fear or ego to prevent you from investing in your own financial education and asking for help?
I bet the answer to all these things is no.
So don’t.
Take your cue from me. It’s ok to change your mind and try a different approach. Even if it means reverting to something “old”.
So I suppose if you missed it, The Rainmaker is BACK. And long may she reign 😉
Do you see evidence of sunk cost fallacy in your decision-making? Email me or drop a comment and let me know.
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