“Marginal Costs” Mistake
The lesson I learned is that it’s easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time. If you give in to “just this once,” based on a marginal cost analysis, you’ll regret where you end up. You’ve got to define for yourself what you stand for and draw the line in a safe place.
The marginal cost of doing something wrong “just this once” always seems alluringly low. It suckers you in, and you don’t ever look at where that path ultimately is headed and at the full costs that the choice entails. Justification of the marginal cost economics of “just this once.”
It’s easier to make a decision and stick to it 100% of the time. It’s more difficult to give in once and then hold yourself back the next time since the decision needs to be made again. Ideally, you want to reduce the decision fatigue and make it the default.
