Depreciation: Why Parts of Your Life Lose Value Over Time

In accounting, depreciation is not a failure.

It is an acknowledgement of reality.

Assets wear down. Utility declines. What once delivered value eventually delivers less — not because it was wrong, but because time changes everything.

Life works the same way.

Habits, relationships, goals, identities — many of them once served a real purpose. They helped you survive, grow, or stabilize. But if you never account for depreciation, you end up carrying items on your life balance sheet at values they no longer justify.

That mismatch is where frustration, guilt, and stagnation begin.

1. What Depreciation Really Means (In Life)

Depreciation is the gradual reduction in usefulness over time.

In life, depreciation shows up when:

• A habit no longer produces the result it once did
• A relationship costs more energy than it returns
• A goal feels heavy instead of motivating
• An identity no longer fits who you are becoming

The mistake is not that these things depreciated.

The mistake is pretending they haven’t.

2. Emotional and Behavioral Assets Depreciate Too

Habits

Some habits are essential at one stage of life and limiting at another.

• Hustle can build momentum early
• The same hustle can destroy health later

A habit that once protected you can later imprison you.

Relationships

Relationships depreciate when:

• Growth becomes one-sided
• Communication no longer feels safe
• You stay out of history rather than alignment

This does not make you disloyal.

It makes you honest.

Goals

Goals have shelf lives.

A goal that once gave direction can eventually become a weight you carry out of obligation rather than desire.

Holding onto outdated goals is like maintaining obsolete equipment because “it used to work.”

3. Why Letting Go Feels So Hard

People resist depreciation because they confuse value with identity.

“I invested so much.”

“This used to define me.”

“I should still want this.”

In accounting, sunk cost fallacy is ignored for a reason.

Past investment does not justify future loss.

Life requires the same discipline.

Honouring the role something played in your past does not require dragging it into your future.

4. The Hidden Cost of Not Writing Things Down

In business, failure to depreciate assets leads to overstated performance and bad decisions.

In life, failure to acknowledge depreciation leads to:

• Emotional exhaustion
• Quiet resentment
• Loss of clarity
• Feeling stuck without knowing why

You are not unmotivated.

You are overloaded with assets that no longer perform.

5. Writing Down Assets Without Guilt

Writing something down is not an act of rejection.

It is an act of alignment.

Ask:

• Does this still give more than it costs?
• Does this reflect who I am now — not who I was?
• If this entered my life today, would I choose it again?

If the answer is no, depreciation has already occurred.

Your only decision is whether to acknowledge it.

6. Healthy People Update Their Ledger

Well-adjusted people are not those who hold on the longest.

They are the ones who update their internal accounting most honestly.

They allow:

• Identities to evolve
• Roles to end
• Seasons to close

Not everything is meant to scale.

Some things are meant to expire.

Conclusion: Letting Go Is Good Accounting

Your life is not failing because things change.

It fails when you refuse to change your books to match reality.

Depreciation does not erase meaning.

It preserves integrity.

What once served you did its job.

You are allowed to thank it — and move on.

That is not weakness.

That is sound accounting.