When you choose one thing rather than another, there is always a possibility that you may have been better off if you had chosen differently, and that’s the opportunity cost that is built into your choices. By choosing one course of action, you may miss out on what you could have gained if you had chosen differently. For example, if you accept one of multiple job offers, you will be giving up the opportunity to accept other offers, and you may have been better off if you had accepted another offer. By choosing one option, you give up the opportunities possible by having chosen another or others.
Considering the opportunity costs of your choices is often a wise practice. It allows you to see your choices within a perspective of possible consequences and options, which can be very useful for maintaining resilience and resourcefulness for making future choices.
“When you kill time, you kill your opportunities for success.” (Denis Waitley, American motivational speaker, author)
“Whenever we choose an alternative (whether it is taking a new job or moving to Des Moines for a month), we are automatically rejecting every other possible choice. All those rejected alternatives are paths to possible futures where things could be better or worse than the path we chose. There is potential opportunity cost in any choice we forgo.” (Annie Duke, American author, decision educator)
Getting Personal
Have you ever chosen one thing over another, and later wondered what it would have been like if you had chosen the other possibility. For example, one special field of study rather than another; one job rather than another; one romantic partner rather than another? Any doubts or second thoughts about the opportunity costs incurred?
….Top of post image, “Choosing path,” by , from unsplash.com
