Sunk Cost Fallacy: Lessons From Wasting My 10,000 Valuable Hours
Have you ever regretted investing your time on things that now don’t impact your life? Or even worse, waste a lot of your time?
I certainly have!
I spent most of my time from the age of 12 to 25 pursuing something that now can only serve as memories. That was around 4 to 8 hours per day practicing something useless for me now.
It was gaming; I aimed to be the first Indonesian to win The International, a world Dota 2 Championship.
The worst part? At some point during my college years, I already knew that I wasn’t going to make it; but at the time, among my friends, I was already one of the best, and their recognition fed my ego, preventing me from any option of retiring from the game.
Hence, I continue to pursue my dream.
In 2017, I was still pursuing my dream while working for an insurance company. It hit me again, the self-awareness of knowing that this is not my way, not my thing, and not my talent.
Plus, my responsibility to my family and my life became more extensive, so I finally decided to put my ego down and quit the game.
I’ve spent more than 10,000 hours playing this game. According to Malcolm Gladwell, I should have been a master at this, but I still kinda sucked.
I was pursuing what I called a pseudo-passion.
Pseudo passion
Pseudo passion gives you an extra juice of adrenaline and another self-boosting hormone.
It has something to do with your real passion, a part of it, but because their nature of activity gives you some hormone that induces addiction, it gives you a more profound sense of attachment towards it.
My passion wasn’t gaming; I didn’t love the game to its core.
Through a long process of contemplation and self-awareness, I realized that my dream was to inspire people to do their best. My dream was to help others recognize the “bigger potential” within them, and at the time, I was going to do it by being living proof.
Nothing is a mistake
For some time after I stopped, I regretted my poor decision about how I spent my time.
After 10,000 hours, I could have mastered something different and become a better person right now.
In 2020, when covid locked us down, giving us so much time with ourselves, and I got to play the game again, I realized it was not for nothing.
In the game, being good at it means improving every aspect. Not only the significant cool movement but also the small kinds of stuff. By mastering every basic to its master level, you can become a pro.
It is the beginner’s mindset to want to learn and practice the basics again when you know what you’ve been doing so far has a flaw that can give you the edge over others.
This mindset has been implanted in me since I was a kid, playing the game only for the sake of the fun.
And I bring it with me every time I want to get better at something.
- I learn how to type with ten fingers at the age of 27
- I practiced the basics of playing badminton when I regularly play with my friend at the age of 25
- I did a vocalization and other mouth practice every day in my dorm room when I was 24 because I wanted to be able to sing better
I don’t think I would have the courage and humility to do that if it wasn’t because of my gaming experience.
So, rest assured, whatever you’ve been going through in your life until now, there must be something you bring until now.
God doesn’t allow something to happen to someone’s life without reason or purpose. It must have something to do with growing up as a person or reminding you of something important.
Everything, I mean everything, from the bad and the good stuff that has happened to you, happened for a reason.
You might haven’t got the opportunity to appreciate it and learn from it.
Follow The Orange Journal so you don’t miss a post. Do you love to write about self-improvement and personal development? Learn how to be added as a writer here. 🍊
