Date: 28.02.2024

Opportunity cost is something I constantly think about.

• Choosing to read this book means that I'm not reading that other one.
• Choosing to run 10 miles on Saturday morning means that I'm not home when my kid wakes up.
• Choosing to invest in this stock means that I am not investing in that other stock - and what if this other one performs better?

Of course, I have a long list of reasons that support the things I am doing.

But besides asking yourself:

What are you doing, and why are you doing it?

I think there is another question that is worth occasionally revisiting:

What are you not doing, and why are you not doing it?

And oh boy, I feel that I can ramble about this forever.

One example from my life is the following:

I don't use social media. Not that I have closed my accounts, I haven't, they are perfectly operational. Rather, I've unfollowed everyone, which makes the whole social media thing quite unexciting. This means that when I occasionally open Twitter, for example, I can search for a specific person, company, post, etc., without falling victim to the endless stream of "helpful" content. But not only that, my decision to not use social media helps me avoid the new trendy channels that occasionally pop-up: Clubhouse (remember?), Trends, TikTok.

Instead of defaulting to opening an account to all the newest social media platforms. I tend to remind myself why I don't use social media in the first place - more time doing the things I want to do, opposed to watching what everyone else is doing.

Another example is related to my website... 

Not long ago, I was considering starting an online community. You know, a place where we can chat and discuss projects, ideas, thoughts. 

While on the surface this looks promising, I've been a member of quite a lot of online gatherings to know that the excitement quickly wears off. Besides, it takes a lot of work to keep a community thriving, which means that I'll have less time to focus on my writing and exploring new ideas.

Basically, not doing something doesn't necessarily mean that you are missing out. A lot of times means that you are focused on other, more important projects for you.

Keeping yourself involved in unpractical activities has two costs. The first cost is the suboptimal outcomes of what you are currently doing. The second cost is the unrealized gains of what you could be doing.

Let's add an example to unpack the above...

If you are involved in a mediocre job with mediocre pay - i.e., а job that has no future potential. You are not only crippled by your current low salary, but you are also missing out on potentially gaining a higher salary.

Obviously, trying to optimize your life towards 100% profitability is unrealistic. We all do things that are unpractical. Some will use their free time to binge-watch an entire season of the latest hot TV show. Others, might choose another, more tranquilizing approach - hiking in the mountains. Both of these activities are not practical in the sense of accumulating more wealth. But are ways for us to cope with life in general.

From my desk:

• Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman [Actionable Summary]: "When we obtain what we wanted, we quickly find new things to want – never appreciating what we have."

From around the web:

• How to Do Great Work: "The way to figure out what to work on is by working. If you're not sure what to work on, guess. But pick something and get going. You'll probably guess wrong some of the time, but that's fine. It's good to know about multiple things; some of the biggest discoveries come from noticing connections between different fields."

This Friday is my 36th birthday. Besides getting older, I'm celebrating six years since my site was launched.

If you've gained any value from what I've created so far, I'd appreciate it if you could take a few minutes of your time to give a testimonial, and potentially share your feedback.

It should take you approximately 5 minutes.

Thank you tremendously!

Regards,

Ivaylo Durmonski