Learning to Fold: How to Make Braver, Smarter Decisions

In this episode of Brave Moves, I share something unexpected that taught me a lot about confidence, decision-making, and personal growth, learning how to play poker.

When I first sat down at the table, I thought poker was all about reading other people. But I quickly learned that it’s really about understanding yourself, your emotions, your patience, and especially your relationship with loss and letting go.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve taken from poker is recognizing the sunk cost fallacy, which traps us when we keep investing time, money, or energy into something just because we’ve already started. Sound familiar? We do it in business, relationships, and even in our goals.

I also talk about loss aversion (that natural human tendency to fear losing more than we value winning) and how optimism bias can trick us into believing things will magically get better if we keep holding on.

Here’s the truth: sometimes, the bravest move you can make is to walk away. To stop forcing something that’s no longer serving you. To take responsibility for the next step, and trust yourself enough to start fresh.

This episode is a reminder that failure isn’t final, and walking away isn’t weakness — it’s clarity.

💭 My takeaways:

• The sunk cost fallacy makes it hard to walk away.
• Loss aversion clouds decision-making.
• We often fear failure more than we should.
• Optimism bias keeps us stuck in hope instead of action.
• It’s braver to walk away than to stay out of fear.
• Taking personal responsibility brings freedom.
• We only grow when we stop letting judgment define our choices.

🎧 Listen now to learn how to trust yourself, take control of your decisions, and make the brave move to walk away when it’s time.

Chapters

00:00 The Journey of Learning and Growth
02:36 Understanding the Sunk Cost Fallacy
05:47 The Impact of Optimism Bias
08:31 Embracing Change and Making Brave Moves