A cheap win is the kind you don’t bring up later.

Your own silence afterwards is the verdict. Wins that were earned get retold, exaggerated slightly, brought up years later at dinner; the other kind sits in a drawer and you move the conversation along when it comes near. Nobody has to tell you which category something belongs to, because you can feel it in whether you want to mention it.

Use it as a test beforehand: ask whether you will want to tell this story. If the answer is no, you already know what the win would cost. Collect the ones you will still be glad to talk about in five years.