Opportunity cost sounds like a dry topic, but it is a concept that can be applied to many aspects of daily life. I recently found a quote from a famous author and realized that it applies to opportunities, opportunity cost, and what it takes to succeed.

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” – Ralph Waldo Emerso

Decision making strategies 200x300 Opportunities, Opportunity Cost, And What It Takes To Succeed

decision making strategies for successful people

Opportunities, Opportunity Cost, And What It Takes To Succeed

This quote means a lot to me, as this is a really great way to view life itself. This is a simple lesson, but a very powerful one. If you realize that what the opportunity cost is before making a decision, this helps greatly in taking a ‘calculated risk’. If you do not know what the cost is, making a decision can be costly.

Economists refer to opportunity cost as “the cost of any activity measured in terms of the value of the best alternative that is not chosen.” Emerson said it much more eloquently, but essentially said the same thing. What this really amounts to is this – for everything we do, we miss out on opportunities to do something else. For every opportunity we lose, there is some other gain we have experienced from the path we took. For every opportunity we take, there is another we passed up. Opportunities may only knock once, and we must choose which one to accept. Even if you choose not to do anything, you have made a choice, and there are undoubtedly some consequences.

This is something that many of us tend to forget, and even start to regret the things we have done. We may look back and say ‘wow, if only I had invested in that stock when it was $2 – it is now $40!’. In doing so, we must also realize that we gained something else. Perhaps you donated that money to charity, and helped someone else move forward in their life. Maybe you used that money to buy some item that provided enjoyment, such as a game or other personal item. You may have even saved that money for future use. Whatever other choice you made, you have gained something, even if it is simply the knowledge regarding making a choice in that area next time. We are all faced with opportunities, and the chance to choose between them.

If you spend all your time looking at the doors behind you that have closed, you cannot see the ones that are open in front of you.

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