I don’t struggle with letting things go.
What slows me down is choosing — because choosing means killing other futures.

The moment I commit to one path, ten others disappear. Not emotionally. Logically.
And that’s where the friction comes from.

Most people call this indecision.
It isn’t.

What Loss Aversion Explains — and What It Misses

Behavioural economics tells us that people hate losing more than they enjoy winning.
Losing £100 hurts roughly twice as much as gaining £100 feels good.

This idea — loss aversion — explains why people:

  • cling to failing projects
  • defend outdated systems
  • resist change even when the upside is obvious

Loss aversion is backward-looking.
It protects what’s already behind us.

But it doesn’t explain everyone.

When Letting Go Doesn’t Hurt

I don’t feel loss in the traditional sense.

I can drop ideas.
I can abandon plans.
I can walk away from sunk costs without resentment.

There’s no sense of missing out.
No emotional hangover.

What does show up is something else entirely.

The moment I say yes to something, I feel the weight of everything I just said no to.

Not what I lost —
but what I can no longer become.

Loss Aversion vs. Opportunity Cost

Most people hesitate because they don’t want to lose what they already have.

I hesitate because I don’t want to eliminate optionality.

That difference matters.

Loss-averse thinkers protect the past.
Opportunity-cost thinkers protect the future.

Both slow decisions —
but for completely different reasons.

What This Looks Like in Practice

This isn’t paralysis.
It’s pressure.

It shows up as:

  • delaying commitment because the trade-offs feel heavy
  • keeping multiple paths alive longer than necessary
  • asking “Is this the best use of my time?” instead of “Is this safe?”
  • feeling boxed in by decisions that feel final

The internal monologue sounds like this:

If I choose this now, am I closing myself off too early?
What if something better appears next month?

From the outside, it looks like hesitation.
From the inside, it’s optimisation.

The Hidden Advantage of Not Fearing Loss

If you don’t feel loss aversion, you gain something most people don’t.

  • You move on faster
  • You don’t worship sunk costs
  • You experiment more freely
  • You’re not emotionally chained to old decisions

That’s a competitive edge — especially in fast-moving environments.

The downside isn’t fear.

It’s abundance.

Too many paths.
Too much optionality.
Too much future to account for.

How to Work With This (Instead of Fighting It)

The solution isn’t more thinking.
It’s better constraints.

Limit the menu
Fewer options reduce psychological drag.

Define “good enough” early
Perfection is just unbounded comparison.

Time-box decisions
When the timer ends, choose.

Prefer reversible moves
If it can be undone, it’s not a real opportunity cost.

Separate exploration from execution
Explore wide. Execute narrow. Never both at once.

This isn’t about rushing.
It’s about respecting trade-offs without being paralysed by them.

The Real Insight

Some people fear losing what they have.
Others fear choosing one future over another.

Both are human.
Only one is talked about.

Once you name this pattern, it stops controlling you.

The hesitation wasn’t weakness —
it was awareness without structure.

A Question Worth Sitting With

Are you actually afraid of losing —
or are you afraid of choosing?