I’m listening to an EconTalk podcast with Annie Duke, author of “Quit” and the (great) host Russ Roberts.

At the 0:30:00 mark, they discuss the cognitive state of “being in the losses”.

We have a physical and mental ledger. For example, what’s the difference between completing a half marathon vs. only running half of a full marathon. In the first you’re a winner, in the latter example you’re a loser.

She puts it well, mentally we measure relative to the goal. Physical ledgers measure from the starting line, mental ledgers from the finish line.

https://simplecast.econtalk.org/episodes/annie-duke-on-the-power-of-quitting