Summit Fever

Choiceology with Katy Milkman

Imagine that you’ve put in effort toward a goal, but things haven’t quite worked out the way you hoped. Maybe your goal was more expensive than you expected; maybe it’s taking longer to reach than you thought. So the question is, do you double down and continue to work toward that increasingly difficult goal, or do you move on to something new? Do you fish or cut bait?

On this episode of Choiceology with Dan Heath, we look at how past effort, time or expense can influence the way we make decisions moving forward—even when they shouldn’t.

The episode begins on an auction house floor but quickly climbs to the top of the highest peak in the world. Along the way, you’ll see how common is the lure to continue no matter what, and how it affects all kinds of decisions, big and small.

Professor Michael Roberto explains how to identify this bias in your day-to-day life. You can read his paper on how it may have influenced some life-and-death decisions at the top of Mount Everest.

Lou Kasischke’s book on his experience on the 1996 Mount Everest expedition is called After the Wind.

You’ll also find out how to fight back against the influence of this trap in a story about Intel CEO Andy Grove—one of the most successful business leaders of the 20th century.

And to learn about making investment decisions with an eye toward the future, check out our bonus article “Don’t Look Back.”

Choiceology is an original podcast from Charles Schwab. For more on the series, visit schwab.com/podcast.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating or review on Apple Podcasts.

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