Opportunity cost

The word “yes” should be used with great care. We are constantly bombarded with options and opportunities. Every time you say “yes” to something, you are saying “no” to everything else at the same time. For example, when I decided to learn French as my new year’s resolution one year ago, I also decided not to learn any other language. I like to look at this as if I am comparing timelines. I chose a timeline where French will forever be a part of my identity. Learning this language will open a lot of doors to me, which were previously closed. I have noticed that it is a fantastic social icebreaker to utter a basic conversation in a language that is not your native one. People become happy and they want to help you more. As a networking tool, it can be a powerful asset. Personally, my primary reason for learning a new language is that it gives me great satisfaction and that I can rest assured that my time I put to good use.

However, when deciding on French I also decided not to master any other new language this year. All those other timelines were forever and irrevocably obliterated. This actually closed more doors than I opened. One just has to think about how many languages there are to realize that. For me, it comes down to the concept of potential. The hard currency of potential is time. Potential is nothing until it is realized, but to realize it requires time. The older we get, the less time we have and consequentially – the older we get, the less potential we have. And with age, we also tend to value time higher. When you are young you can feel that you have “all the time in the world” and thus it is OK to waste some of it. I can relate to this because I have definitely wasted a lot of time myself. But I am now convinced that I was wrong. The value of time does not increase with age. It is just our awareness of it that increases. Time has infinite value, no matter how old you are. That is why you need to be extremely careful with the word “yes”. If you don’t agree with me on this, then think about a children’s hospital for just one second.

When I was young and clueless, my market value (my income) was low. Now, at age 37, my market value has increased substantially. If my health stays with me for the rest of my life, it is highly probable that my income will keep increasing. The paycheck is one indicator of this process. The older and more experienced we get, the higher our income. However, there is a risk associated with a strong focus on the paycheck. When you are young and clueless, that is also when your potential is the highest. No doors are closed and all timelines are available. You can thus make a strong case that the monetary value of time goes down with age – not up, as your paycheck likely indicates. If I had said “yes” to fewer parties when at the university and instead studied harder, my financial situation would be better today. I was not aware of this fact at all back then. I am grateful that I have finally found this realization.

Our increasing paycheck can give a false impression that we are on the right path. And by right path I mean the timeline where we are being all we can be, where we are realizing our full potential. If your conscience sometimes say “You should not do this” and then you go ahead and say “yes” and do it anyway – you are not realizing your full potential. I don’t think you can ever get rid of that inner voice completely, because then you would be perfect, and no-one is. But you can reduce it over time, and the things your conscience calls out will likely become less severe – which is a very good thing indeed. For 37 years, my conscience said “You should not be an employee” and I said “yes” and stayed in the rat race. Now my conscience says “You should drink less coffee”.

Every opportunity has an associated cost, thus the term “opportunity cost”. Even if the concept is new to you or if you are familiar with it, I hope that you will keep the opportunity cost in mind the next time you consider saying “yes” to something.

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay