Always be persistent, always be persistent... We have been told this since we were young.
What if being able to give up was a skill that helped us succeed instead of being associated with failure? We are now learning the art of giving up, so no more being stubborn at all costs.
In her book The Art of Giving Up, former professional poker champion Annie Duke presents a daring and paradoxical viewpoint in a world where tenacity is frequently hailed as the secret to success.
This is a particularly relevant technique for women. All too frequently, they are still urged to balance their own goals, family, and profession. Relenting yourself may seem like a bad decision. However, the author contends that a kind of liberty and autonomy can only be found in the process of giving up and realising which conflicts are not worth fighting.
Continuing with ventures that are destined to fail is a really bad idea. We become frustrated and extremely exhausted when our motivation wanes, our energy levels decline, and our resources are exhausted.
However, why is quitting so difficult? Annie Duke clarifies the cognitive biases that impair our judgement and lead us to increase our investment in unsuccessful enterprises.
Even when we know that the boat is taking on water, we frequently get unwilling to let up when we devote a significant amount of resources to a project or choice. Annie Duke refers to this instinct to try to prevent waste as "sunk costs," and it might occasionally cause us to stay in error. Take the case of an academic who, despite having already expended a significant amount of time and money, keeps studying in a subject that she finds uninteresting. She runs the risk of overspending and choosing a career that won't fulfil her aspirations if she keeps going.
People also prefer to commit more to a selected course even when it seems to be failing; this phenomenon is called "commitment escalation." Many would rather continue than acknowledge their error, often at great personal expense. In this instance, the person would persist in a relationship while knowing it is poisonous since they have already given it too much thought and made too many compromises.
The "endowment effect" adds even more complexity. We get more and more committed to a goal or decision the closer we get to achieving it, which makes us even less willing to change. It might be challenging to fire an employee for incompetence if the management of the company has invested in her training, for instance.
These inclinations make giving up challenging. However, by being conscious of these prejudices, we can take steps to get around them and make better selections.