It can be difficult to change direction after investing time, effort or identity in a particular goal.
Separate persistence from attachment
Persistence is useful when the destination still matters. Attachment can keep you pursuing something simply because you have already invested in it.
Ask what has changed
Did you gain new information? Did your priorities move? Did the original assumption prove wrong?
Keep the learning
A route that did not work may still have taught you valuable skills, preferences and constraints.
Choose the next direction deliberately
Do not simply escape the old plan. Define what you are moving towards and why.
Set a new review point
Give the new direction enough time to produce evidence, then review again.
Explore: When Your Goals No Longer Fit the Life You Want explores when an old destination may no longer fit.