if i understand what you are asking...
the best outcome that you didn't list, is to learn from other's mistakes and avoid them yourself. john 20:29, psalms 119:1-6
the next best is to learn from your mistakes, repent from your sin and seek forgiveness. john 8:1-11, 1john 1:9
if you can't stop your sin, then we are called to take any necessary, or even extreme effort, to protect ourselves from falling back into that sin, be it avoiding a person, an activity, a place, or opportunity than provides too much temptation and seek accountability from another to help us avoid the complacency or sense of being "above" that trap or sin. hebrews 10:26, ephesians 5, hewbrews 5:29, 30, james 5:16 i think scripture is clear that we have much to gain by sharing our burdens, and helping one another avoid sin and temptation through prayer, support, and what else accountability has to offer.
i apologize if i misunderstood your question, but i think avoiding sin for a number of reasons is always best. but when we stop sinning at the earliest level possible, i think we also have the benefit of it not being a habit and all that goes with habitual sin, i.e. we start to devalue the sin and ignore the conviction we are receiving. i guess that is a "hardening of the heart", but in this case i think of it as an insensitivity to that sin. sometimes habitual sin opens more doors in our life to new temptations that never existed before that door was opened, and unfortunately, makes it even more difficult to avoid that sin than it was previously.
i'm not sure if that is the answer you wanted, but it's a great topic and question.