Many people hold back from investing in their future based on how they're doing in the moment. They say "I won't spend money on this course to give me shortcuts to where I'm headed because I already spent x-amount and haven't recovered that yet."

Whatever we did in the past stays in the past. It's a sunk cost. It's irretrievable. If we make decisions based on the past and the present then we shortchange ourselves.

Make decisions as if you're already WHERE you're headed. Pretend you're already there. Use pretend retrospect. Go into the future and decide what you needed to get there. Then follow through with those decisions.