Author: cbarney.45

Opportunity cost, saving money, and living your rich life

If you want something, you HAVE to give something up to get it – whether that’s time, money, effort, etc. You have to make sacrifices…you can do anything if you set your mind to it, but you can’t do everything. You will have to pick and choose what is most important to you because by saying yes to one thing, you are inherently saying no to something else. It’s opportunity cost.

For example, if you want an expensive new car, you have to give up money to get it. To earn enough money, you have to work for it (trading time and effort for dollars). You’ll also have to save up for it (also costing time, because it won’t happen over night, and effort, because you might be tempted to spend money on other things). So if you also want to go on vacation, go out to eat all the time, go on a shopping spree, etc., but you don’t make enough money, by saying yes to those other things, you are saying no to getting that dream car.

You can’t have all of the toys and live the “rich” life without PAYING for it. What you need to do is redefine what is a rich life for you (it’s different for everyone). Living a rich life doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend a lot of money. It does mean that you’re allowed to spend money on things that matter most to you though. Life is meant to be enjoyed. When you die, you can’t take that money with you.

But the problem for most people isn’t having too much money leftover when they die, it’s not having enough for their later years. Most people mindlessly spend money on things they don’t really get enjoyment out of. They do this all of their lives. Stop doing this! If it’s not something you truly care about, cut it out of your life or buy off-brand. Save money for the things that matter most to you and when you do spend on something you’ve been saving for, don’t feel regret.

All you can do is all you can do

All you can do is all you can do. There is no more. Sorry, but you can’t give 110%. I know it’s a popular phrase, but it’s not possible. You only have 100% to do it. Maybe eventually you’ll increase your capacity so that what is your full effort today becomes more effortless in the future. But in terms of today, you can only try your best to do what you’re capable of.

You can only control what you can control – your effort and your attitude. Stop worrying about the future. Stop worrying about what other people will think. Stop worrying about the results. If you continue to follow the process, and it’s the right process, the results you desire usually come. It doesn’t always work out (there is no formula for guaranteed success), but if you think in bets and play the odds, you can put yourself in the best position to succeed.

All you can do is all you can do. The key to reducing stress is to let everything else go.

Failure, limitations, and the future

If you can embrace failure, you can accomplish amazing things. If you aren’t afraid to fail, to look stupid, to look weak or lesser in the eyes of others, as long as you can keep getting up and trying again, you will continue to improve and eventually reach heights you never thought possible before.

Failures or setbacks happen. Plan and prepare as much as possible so that winning is the expected outcome, not failure. But if/when you do fail, don’t be too down on yourself. Everyone fails if they’re pushing their current limits…the key is to have a good understanding of what your current limitations are, how much risk you can afford to take so that your failure is not catastrophic, and then to continually push forward. By doing this, eventually your current limitations will be easy for you.

Thoughts on different types of equality

Equality of outcome is not possible, nor should it be desired. We should be striving for equality of opportunity. Everyone should be afforded the same opportunity and then they can choose whether they want to take those opportunities or not. Opportunity will never equal outcome because other factors still play a large part in determining the result. You can affect the result through hardworking, working efficiently, working creatively, working collaboratively, etc. You can get better at networking or delegating. You can get better at doing. And you can always run into good luck or bad luck.

People should be compensated based on their production, results, and merit, but that’s not always going to happen. Because unlike playing sports where you have the same objective and many ways to track results with tangible numbers, we can’t always quantify the value of a team member. And then there is the human, team morale, and leadership aspect to consider too. How can you quantify what that is worth?

We should always strive to be better – for ourselves, our family, friends, co-workers/team, company, city, state, nation, and world. We should strive for a more equal playing field and never stop striving for it. But the best way to start change is to start with yourself. Control what you can control, try to influence what/who you can influence, and realize that nothing is perfect.