Cost Hence Commitment
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If you’ve read through my acronyms list, you are no doubt aware of a psychological principle I touched on called “Cost Hence Commitment” (CHC).
So I want to expand on that a little more:
CHC is is one of the most insidious principles of life.
It is responsible for women staying in abusive relationships. People staying in go no where jobs. And even people throwing themselves out of windows when the stock market takes a downturn.
CHC is something we all must battle each and every day. Because it IS NOT a rational response to life - and - it effects our decision making process all the time… for the worse.
But to battle it - we first have to be aware of it. And it can take months… if not YEARS to fully be aware of how it has shaped our decision making.
But battle it we must, because being committed to something simply because we’ve spent a lot of time trying to acquire “IT” can drag us over cliffs we don’t need to be dragged off.
In poker, one of the hardest things you ever have to do is fold when the last card is dealt - and with a large amount of money in the middle of the table - give up your money to the other person because you KNOW you’re beat. It takes true discipline and willpower to not give into losing more money through curiosity, or, wanting to win so bad that you’ll lose everything because you’re already losing a lot.
But give up and move on we must.
It is very socially acceptable and common for people to use Rhetoric to excuse away their CHC problems:
“I’m an overly committed person - but that’s a good thing!”
“I have faith in the universe paying me my dues for the sacrifices I’ve made!”
“People get what’s coming to them in the end!”
The sad fact is, being commited to something doesn’t make you good at it - or even - make the pursuit worthwhile.
Unless you are consciously CHOOSING to do something, and can answer the tough questions about WHY you’re trying to achieve an outcome - you are probably running on a pain avoidance autopilot program. And lying to yourself about it.
This is not an easy thing to confront. It takes a lot of balls and a lot of self awareness. Because business skill and success happens intangibly, you must confront yourself daily about where “you are at” with your skills and your outcomes.
Of everything you think you want, you must ask yourself “WHY DO I STILL WANT THIS?” - if the answer is ever “because it cost me so much I can’t give up now”… you’re in trouble.
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September 19th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Nicely put! I also enjoyed your list of acronyms.
A point to ponder: the reverse is also true - i.e. when there is no cost involved, it can be difficult to commit to a project. When you are aware of this psychological phenomenon, you can use it to your advantage.
For example, I have a software project that I have been working on in my spare time. Being the creative, curious type, I have a tendency to go off on tangents and explore different ideas which come to me constantly. This can be a good thing, but left unchecked it’s a problem because I would never get the product to a state where I felt comfortable launching. To combat this, I signed up for hosting and bought a domain name, then sat down and created a list of must-have features for a 1.0 version. Having a real, monthly cost associated with the project raised my level of commitment (and focus) to the project.
This is why honest self awareness and reflection, while difficult, can be one of your biggest strengths in business (and life).
September 19th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Actually, I love Jacob’s idea of using this to your advantage– and I am going to go rent a server today.
Thanks
September 20th, 2007 at 8:29 am
So -that’s- why Dad kept that Edsel for so long…
Seriously though, an on-the-nail analysis of how so many of us get worn so thin by trying to juggle far too many marbles at once. When one of those marbles suddenly turns into a soccer ball, the rest are at risk to go flying to the pavement… but we paid so much to get those marbles so… we pick them up and juggle frantically.
Point taken. Want some marbles?