Opportunity Costs of Uncertain Futures

In these times, with an uncertain economy shaping the hopes and fears of everyday people, consistency is quite a commodity. We want to be able to bank on what we can plan for: our paychecks, our jobs, our relationships, our day-to-day lives. And we are willing to pay a high premium for this stability. Rather than venture out towards the new, we want to stay with the devil we know. Even if the job is killing us, or the relationship is sucking our soul, or the paycheck isn't enough to cover the bills. What we know is worth more than what we don't.

I'm in an odd situation at the moment. I love stability and consistency. When going on vacation, I'm the one with the need for the plan. Flying by the seat of my pants is something to do when I'm on an aeroplane...and at that point I know where I'm going anyway so it doesn't really count.
So give me good old predictability. It's safe, it's stable, and I don't have to take any risks with it.

Until that predictability crumbles out from beneath me. The organization I've been working to build for the last three years has suddenly headed in a new direction--merging with a larger organization. It's happening quickly, I'm deep in the process for making it happen, and oh yeah, when it's over I'll be out of a job. Nonprofit organizations like to say that our ultimate goal is to work ourselves out of a job...but that's easier to say when that ultimate goal is in the vague and distant future. When it's one month out, well, that's another story.

So here I am, working hard to provide a clean ending for a great organization, knowing all the while that an unknown abyss grows ever closer. What will I do once my job is over? Especially in this economy?

I find myself thinking about opportunity costs lately. Opportunity costs are basically the benefits you could have received had you pursued a different action (dictionary.com). In many cases, this is looked at in terms of staying in my current job versus moving on to something else. Had I taken "that" job offer, I could have been in a higher tax bracket by now. Of course, in many instances the opportunity cost is hypothetical--how do you know that the job you did not pursue would have panned out the way you hoped? The group could have been run by crooks, looked to you for a patsy, and you could have ended up in jail for all we know. But that's the beauty of it--because we never really know, those opportunity costs always look pretty high.

But what about the opportunity costs involved in losing ones job? What are the opportunity costs of an uncertain future? I suppose it depends on how you look at it. If I were to allow myself to become mired with fear, then my thinking would go: "oh crap, I'm losing my job in this economy, how will I find a new job doing what I've been doing? I won't be able to, so I'll have to apply for unemployment." The opportunity cost in that scenario may be very low to those who view "no options" as the only option: unemployment is the only alternative, therefore there were no benefits you could have received as a result of a different action.

However, once I got over the panic and fear of learning that my job was going away, I started to hold a more open mind. Yes, my current job was ending. But that means that I could move on to do anything I wanted. I didn't have to hold myself to the usual definition of my career self I had been cultivating for the past (mrfhshmr) years. I had been through a lot in this last position: I learned a lot about my abilities and my Self. I didn't have to view my uncertain future with unabashed panic as I was so naturally inclined to do. I started to think about my uncertain future in terms of opportunity costs. What would be the benefits I could gain from pursuing a different option. Or different options? Why did I have to limit myself?

Suddenly, my opportunity costs began to both rise and liberate me at the same time. More opportunities allowed for greater opportunity costs. But at the same time, the more opportunities for myself that I saw, the flatter those opportunity costs became because there were benefits to any decision I made, benefits to every path I wanted to pursue. The biggest opportunity cost became simply going on unemployment. If I wrote off my future, even an uncertain one, for something I knew I could rely upon, then what was I keeping out of my life? Independence? Freedom? Becoming my own boss? Becoming an innovator in my field? Finally teaching seminars? Evolving as an expert? Pursuing my own authentic path and doing what fuels my passion and feeds my soul? Pretty big costs there.

Right now, I'm about a month outside of the abyss. Give or take. I don't know what my first step into that abyss will look like, or what will be under my feet to support me. I know I don't want to go backward, and I know I don't want to cower at the edge. I want to walk forth into my uncertain future with an unwavering belief in myself and my worth, knowing that I can manifest something under my feet to support every step of my journey...even if it appears to be just the soles of my feet at the time. That's an opportunity cost I choose to claim.