The sunk cost bias is our greater willingness to continue with something once we’ve invested time, money or effort into it. Our previous investment clouds our judgement and makes it harder for us to walk away.

Are you a second-year law student who would prefer to become a medical doctor? Are you five years into a marriage that you know isn’t ever going to work? Have you invested in a business that needs more money to survive, but will never scale?

Instead of adding up everything you’ve committed, spent or sacrificed to date think about what will make you happy, healthy and wealthy in the future.

Base your decisions on what will bring you the most value in the future and not on what you’ve invested already.