Opportunity Cost is just Self Sabotage

At 12:30 in the morning, evidence of frustration and panic were emanating from my daughter’s room.

It seemed that hanging a row of decorative rope-lights around the edge of her closet door frame was the third from the last task that she just HAD to complete before she could retire for the night.

As an aspiring good dad, rather than just lay down the law, I attempted to understand why at this TIME this TASK (and the next two) were so important. It wasn’t just the late hour. I also know she had a big game that evening to come and she was already risking her needed energy reserves for peak performance.

“It’s on my to-do list. I need to get it done”. 

But it’s 12:30 in the morning… why not do these tomorrow… you have a big day to come.

“But it’s on my to do list”

Anyone with teenage person can understand the next 30 minutes of back and forth, so I will spare the details. 

Turns out that “if it’s on the list, it has to be done that day.” It doesn’t matter what the priority level of the task is in the context of life at the moment of adding it.

Which just means that the size of the list is only governed by the size of the sheet of paper that she chooses at that moment. 

Turns out that this is a really good analogy for how often we add commitments and responsibilities without regard for already existing ones. 

Needless to say, some lessons can’t be taught, only experienced. A Captain of her team had a very Un-Captain-like game (I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player throw a flag back at the ref.) 

Self-sabotage. 

Luckily for my reputation, adults have more perspective from which to draw, so making the connection between self-sabotage and the concept of Opportunity Cost is somewhat easier. 

Business owners are frequently caught up in the loops of tasks on their To-Do’s that they shouldn't be doing.

And frequently, they are self-sabotaging both their time and their profits.

Here’s your exercise for next week. 

Your NOT-TO-DO list

As you go through the days, begin writing down all the things that you shouldn’t be doing and the time it took. 

Things you are unsure of delegating. Things that are other people’s responsibilities but aren’t being held accountable for. Things that you just think that "only you can do best."

Things that maybe you could hire a person to do, but maybe think you can't afford.

At the end of that week, add up all the time.

What do you think is the missed dollar value of that time if instead you spent those hours generating more business?

Because those are the things that you should be doing.

More often than not, we find that the dollar value in missed business growth opportunity is much greater than the cost of hiring.

Or having that uncomfortable conversation.

Or trusting that someone else can do it well too. 

These are ten yard penalties of our own making, but don’t take my word for it.

Add for yourself.