From the archive

Nobody owes you applause for trying

The most expensive part starts when your effort stops you from stopping. You've already put so much in that now you have to keep going. Otherwise, you'll have to admit the previous months didn't deliver what you'd hoped for. So you give it another six months. Then more. The project hasn't been working for a long time, but you can't bear to bury it: there's too much of you inside.