You've spent three years on it

You've been doing it for three years. So you can't stop.

A relationship. A job. A company you built. You know it's wrong in the way you know weather. But three years is a lot to put down, so the plan becomes three more.

The Chinese have an eight-character expression for this. Wang yang er bu lao, wei wei chi ye. The sheep got out, then you fixed the pen. It's not too late.

The story is small. A sheep escapes through a hole in the fold. A neighbour says, plug the hole. The owner says, the sheep's already gone, what's the point. The next morning another sheep is gone.

The line people repeat is the last one. Fixing the pen after the sheep is gone still counts. It doesn't tell you off for not fixing it in March. It says the repair still works in April.

Sunk cost does something specific to a human mind. It converts money already spent into a reason to spend more, which is the opposite of how money works anywhere else.

The question that cuts through it is shorter than the argument. If I were starting today, with nothing invested and nothing to explain to anyone, would I choose this.

You might still say yes. That's fine and worth knowing. But answer it before the three years answer it for you.

MOJOWAY is where I ask that question with somebody in the room. Self-awareness has a lot to do with noticing the story you've been telling yourself about what you've already paid.