Seize Your Opportunities

At the same time there are billions who are drifting through life ignoring their deeper emotions. Inside they aspire to live a better life but they are blocked somehow. They trudge through life hardly making a contribution and invariably heading toward an old age tinged with regret.

The interesting thing is that all of these people, i.e. those living a purposeful life and those just existing, have at least one thing in common. Which is that they’re both blessed with exactly the same amount of time; i.e 24 hours in a day.

Thus the intriguing question is ‘what differentiates the way the different types of people use their time?’

Invariably, it is their attitude towards, and respect, for time that is the fundamental difference between those who accomplish great things, establish legacies, and those who continue to only wish they had more. Each of these people has twenty-four hours every day. A hundred and sixty-eight hours every week, and so on and so on. Just like you.

The difference between us is dictated by how we, as individuals, choose to use our time at any given point.

Opportunity costs

Think about some of your  simple daily choices…

• Watch TV or read a book?
• Go out for coffee or do some exercise?
• Stay behind at work or spend time with your family?
• Spend money or save money?
• Go to the movies or do some studying.

These are all examples of opportunity costs – what we give up in order to do what we choose to do. The same dilemma applies in business. Do you write up a report or make some more sales calls? Do you attend a seminar or schedule some appointments? Do you take a distracting call or concentrate on the task at hand? Do you invest in new marketing position or do you slash costs?

Understanding the value of your time and your resources in relation to the task at hand is a valuable skill well worth cultivating. It is simple to calculate and it is this understanding that helps one group of people be more successful than another.

If your ‘hourly rate’ is more valuable than the cost of employing someone else to do that job, then delegate it. Outsource it. Whatever you do, don’t do it yourself!

Opportunity cost is not all about money either. When you’re calculating your hourly rate make sure you calculate some relaxation time in there too. Incorporating some rest and rejuvenation into your schedule is an important priority management exercise. Meaning it will pay to factor it into your hourly rate calculation. The beauty of doing this is you don’t have to feel guilty when you choose to take a break or have a day off to recharge your batteries.

(Remember your ‘hourly rate’ is effectively the sum of your income streams (including potential new ones) and the hours you’re prepared to invest into developing and maintaining those income streams). Depending on your life choices it could be a portion of profits, a portion of your salary, or it could simply be your billable hours).

For example, understanding the concept of opportunity costs, can help you enjoy more work-life balance. If this is a challenge you face, try to focus on work when at work and on family/friends when you’re home. Both have value and both need to be respected. Also try to recognise the balance between education and entertainment and invest some time in both accordingly.

By recognising the value of your time—and the value of your attention when you’re with loved ones, or relaxing/learning — you invariably set yourself up for more productive work time as well as more a more rewarding non-work time.

The more responsibility and understanding we all have for dealing with the endless opportunity costs that constitute day-to-day decision making will invariably let us join the group of happy and fulfilled people, rather than those wandering without a sense of direction.

Beware life’s opportunity costs and understand the value of your time so you can seize life’s opportunities and live life to the fullest!

Colin