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I’m guessing you don’t deliberately punch yourself in the face.
But… I’m going to suggest that maybe you do something similar from time to time.
It happens when we use our PAST investments, decisions and commitments to make investments, decisions and commitments about our FUTURE.
Let’s just say that you committed to attending a meeting with a colleague/supplier/client.
But then you realise that you really don’t need to be at that meeting.
For many of us, we use our PAST commitment as a reason to still attend the meeting.
We think “I have to attend this meeting now – I’ve already committed to it”. Or “I don’t want to upset someone or create a hassle’.
But let me put it this way:
If you had, in a PAST moment, scheduled on your calendar to punch yourself in the face, and then realised that actually, you don’t want to punch yourself in the face, would you continue with that commitment?
No! Of course not!
But we do this all the time to ourselves:
- Attending meetings/events that we don’t need to be at
- Staying in meetings/events (because they’ve been scheduled for an hour) even when the agenda is completed
- Finishing books / TV programmes / movies / courses that aren’t providing value to us
- Holding onto projects or software or clients or suppliers or employees or “things” because of the time and money invested in them
- Finishing all the food on our plate in a restaurant, even though we’re full because we paid for it
- Feeling obliged to purchase something from someone when they’ve made a lot of effort to help or engage with us
In strategy and psychology, it’s called the “Sunk Cost Fallacy”.
But I want you to remember it as “Punching myself in the face”!
The only way around this irrational trap that we fall prey to, is to re-decide with our future in mind.
Re-decide everything often.
Re-decide every investment, commitment and decision you have made based on your goals and vision for your FUTURE.
TAKE ACTION:
COACHING: If you’re struggling to let go of some past commitments to make new decisions let’s chat about this in your next coaching session
TAKE ACTION:
- In the context of your current projects and goals, are there any areas where you are currently using a past investment or commitment to determine what you do now?
- Ask yourself: If I had not invested money or time or made any commitments around this particular goal/client/project/employee/supplier – will I still make the same decision?
- Consistently “re-decide” commitments, investments and decisions based on your future goals
- COACHING: If you struggle to say “no” or let go of past commitments that will allow you to move forward, I can help you, just book a free consultation with me here.
