Day 18: How to Assess When Holding a Position Is Worth the Cost

Not all friction is failure. Some resistance is structural — it holds a standard that accommodation would erode. The question is whether you know, when you are holding a position, what it is costing and whether the cost is proportionate to what is being protected.

Think of a time you maintained a position that was inconvenient for others. Ask two questions. Was the holding worth the cost? And: was the cost accurately estimated at the time, or did you underestimate what it would require?

The capacity to hold a position without either backing down unnecessarily or overestimating the importance of holding it depends on accurate prior assessment. Most people do one or the other by default. This practice develops the capacity to make that assessment deliberately, before the friction begins.