This week I’ve been seeing several clients with the same issue – there is something in their professional arena, whether a troubling client, a challenging direct report, or a systemic thorny problem, that is causing them significant grief, but they aren’t yet willing to let go. Some reasons for holding on include fear of what the dissolution might mean, exhaustion at banging their head against the wall or simply not being able to see that there could be an easier way. In all cases, my question was the same – what is it costing you in terms of time, money, energy, and drama headaches to keep holding on to something that is clearly not working? Even in being able to see something as deeply negative, it still took a lot of time for them to see a new perspective. I reminded them of the danger of getting stuck in the fallacy of sunk costs – just because you’ve invested in something, doesn’t mean you should continue to invest when it’s not working, just because you invested already. It’s just throwing good money after bad. If you’re in a similar situation, consider – how much faster and further and more enjoyably could your work life proceed if you weren’t pulled down with the weight of a terminally-ill situation. You must let go to move on. What will it take for you to move?