Level Up! With Shay

opportunity cost noun: Economics; the money or other benefits lost when pursuing a particular course of action instead of a mutually-exclusive alternative

You have probably heard the term “opportunity cost” from some high school and college economics class. If you decided to get the rocky road ice cream instead of the strawberry ice cream, the opportunity cost is not enjoying the strawberry ice cream. Simple enough.

Have you thought about what other opportunity costs you’ve paid for – more specifically, with your dreams? This is going to be a pretty vulnerable blog post, I can already tell, because I have put myself in a lot of situations where I didn’t think about my opportunity cost. And now, I am realizing how much I really did not value my time or my dreams.

This might sound cliche but I have always wanted a six pack. Be able to take my shirt off and go for a run without anything jiggling. (Do what you want with your body, I’m talking about mine :). But any time I’d order a pizza or grab some Chinese, go out for some ice cream, I never took the opportunity cost into account. Sure, I knew that I can’t eat pizza every day and get the six pack I want, but I was solely focused on the moment and what I was going to GET. Not what I would get in the long run if I didn’t get what I wanted RIGHT NOW. Can I be even realer with you? I have never been a great saver of money. And by never, I mean I still have credit card debt I’m paying off, haven’t touched my student loans in a while, and still have very little in my savings account. Why is that? I have never really taken into account opportunity cost. Man, how would it feel to have $4000 sitting in my back account savings? Freaking amazing right?! But wait, that pizza sounds really great too. (I really enjoy pizza). AND I can get it in 30 minutes or less! ORDER NOW! I’m not proud of it, but I believe it’s all about awareness, learning and growing. And I’m doing that!

My friend texts me “Let’s go hit the bars tonight!” Get crazy and lose my inhibitions around a bunch of beautiful women? I’m in! The cost? Forty bucks in drinks, $20 in an Uber, hours of pre-gaming, clubbing, time spent hungover the next day, coffee and greasy food for breakfast. Can’t really calculate the real cost, but the opportunity cost? Hours spent working on myself and my business, the money I could’ve saved, a good night’s sleep, a great energetic 24 hours the next day. Why is it that a lot of people say “Wow I’m never drinking again” after going out and then the next weekend they’re doing the same thing? I should ask myself because I’ve done it numerous times. Why do we do that? We aren’t focused on the opportunity cost, we are focused on what we can get NOW, what fun can we have NOW, how loosey-goosey can I feel NOW?

Even in college! I went the the University of Missouri – St. Louis, played basketball, and studied marketing. School has never been hard for me. All my life I’ve gotten A’s and B’s and like one C I think. English, funny enough. In college I had 3.5 and 3.7 GPA through undergrad and graduate. I’m saying all of this because I partied a lot in college. It was mostly a big place to hang out with friends, not really study. Just turn in the required work, take the tests, get the grades, and get the degree. I always think, what if I would’ve not partied and instead really focused on my studies? Or even outside of studies and networked with people around the city?

Even though asking “what if” is kind of a waste of time, it makes me rethink some of the decisions I make these days. What if I immerse myself in something instead of taking the easy road and do what I think I want to do NOW? What if I focus on the future and ask “Is what I’m doing now going to benefit the future version of me? Am I doing myself any favors?”. And if I’m focusing on what I can do now to better my future, how can I excel? How could I get from a 3.5 or 3.7 GPA in LIFE to a 4.0 PLUS? Go ALL IN? I can look back and prove to myself that the opportunities that I’ve passed on have way less of a cost than the opportunities I took advantage of.

Now, this is more of a journal blog post and I appreciate you reading all of my “boo hoo’s” and lessons I’ve learned. I hope it makes you think a little bit on how you spend your life. But I do want to give you three questions I found that you can ask yourself when you come to a fork in the road with opportunities and their cost.

1. How much do I value this?
2. What am I giving up now to have this?
3. What am I giving up in the future to have this now?

So, if you know what you want and you’re about to make a decision you’re not sure about, ask yourself those questions. They’re like a little roadmap to keep with you. So cute!

“Don’t ask yourself what your success will cost. Ask yourself if it will be worth it”. – Ed Mylett

#LevelUp

Thanks for reading! ❤ How did you like this post? Do you have some things in your life in which you chose the wrong opportunity in hindsight? No shame! What are you doing now to make sure the benefits of the decision outweighs the opportunity cost? Comment below!

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