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The Ubiquitous Transaction

The cost we pay for an opportunity is more complex than the opportunity itself.
Post #8
Bhubaneswar, August 31 2019, 20:03 IST

Recently, I was made aware of the term "Opportunity Cost" in my Economics class. What it means is pretty straightforward - “Sacrificing one opportunity for the sake of another”. You pay for an opportunity by spending another. This is the reality and we unknowingly do the same all the time. Who thought that an economic principle would relate to the underlying truth of our day to day life in a very unambiguous way. Even if the concept of OC has Economic origins, a more generalized rendition of the idea is worth having a look.
What limits our learning? Costly books? Exorbitantly priced laptops? Paid online courses and resources? Sure, these are a few of the reasons to state. But even if you are fortunate enough to have these services at your fingertips, the innumerable injudicious opportunity-transactions you make all the time would leave you bankrupt - not monetarily but opportunistically.
It is indeed clear about how there are so many different options we can explore in our chosen field. We have to let go of some and choose the one which suits us the most. I face this problem a lot. I have a group of hyperactive friends who are always up to something. They would try out a whole new array of tech which I can only plan of starting. Well, here comes the tradeoff. Yes, they are doing great in whatever they are up to but does that mean I need to stop doing what I am up to and get distracted?
Would doing everything at once bring my efforts to fruition? NO. You need to pay one "opportunity of doing it all" to purchase one "opportunity of doing one thing well". You are definitely going to get tempted to do everything as soon as possible. Keep track of your opportunities and all the “transactions” you make.
Yet again, it is worth to write this in bold text : Plan your way up. Maintain a handwritten plan of action.
There is another important takeaway you can have from this generalized rendition of OC. You know you are having ‘n’ jobs at hand. One of the jobs you choose to do has blocked your mind, is getting on your nerves, and you are finding it difficult to get rid of it gracefully. Easy, pay this opportunity of getting the difficult job done to purchase another opportunity to get all the remaining, might be easier, jobs done. Sounds trivial? Something which everyone has been telling you? Well, brave of you if you have ignored the trivial, as the underlying complexity can change a lot of things (in a good way, indeed). Giving up one task can be hard - given the fruits it might bear once it is done. However, intelligent transactions of opportunities will give you a lot more worth. I wish someone had told me this a year ago.
I recently read about "Asynchronous Programming" in JavaScript. As cryptic it might sound, turns out it is not. In this way of programming, we are allowed to divide our programme into chunks which can run independently. All theses chunks work at their own pace and get the job done. On the other hand, in synchronous style, each of them runs one after the other. If one of them takes a long time, other chunks' executions are delayed until it is completed. And this is the reason why "Synchronous style" is disliked. Try removing the "synchronous" traits from your life, so to say. Your daily programme has so many chunks to execute. Be smart enough to not let one of the chunks block the execution of others.
How well you deal with opportunities and how intelligent your transactions are, can change the course of your progress. The cost you pay for an opportunity is more complex than the opportunity itself. Understanding the dynamics of this "Transaction of Opportunity" can revolutionize your attitude and put you in a position you always wished for.

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