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Adding a few well-thought-out unlesses to our goals will help us achieve the flexibility that we’re seeking, be more responsive to the changing landscape, and reduce escalation of commitment to losing causes.

Leaders commonly fall into the trap of evaluating people solely by whether they’ve achieved a goal or not. When they do that, they’re increasing the potential for escalation of commitment.

A good set of kill criteria means you can win by achieving a goal or by successfully following those kill criteria.

Quitting when the time is right is accomplishing something valuable. Following through on an unless gives you a way to live that.

…developing an exploratory mindset is so important. You have to be making sure that you’ve got a good view of the landscape, that you are taking calls from recruiters, that you’re exploring other functions, and that you’re generally trying out new things…

…lots of hard things are not worth pursuing and the ability to walk away when it’s right is also a skill worth developing.

…expected value is not just about money. It can be measured in health, well-being, happiness, time, self-fulfillment, satisfaction in relationships, or anything else that affects you.

Escalation of commitment is costly. If the participants had walked away sooner, they would have made more. It may feel like quitting slows us down, but… it is persistence that is often the culprit.

…there is nothing as engaging as this state of working at the very limits of your ability – or what both game designers and psychologists call ‘flow.’

Busywork generally gets a bad rap in our real lives, but when we choose it for ourselves, it actually helps us feel quite contented and productive.