Lesson 7: There Are Only Trade-offs

Study economics. It will help in both financial life and life in general. There is a an economic term, opportunity cost. It is choice B. It is what you leave behind in choosing Choice A. The trade-off. Wiki defines as: a situation that involves losing one quality or aspect of something in return for gaining another quality or aspect. It implies a decision to be made with full comprehension of both the upside and downside of a particular choice.

When choosing something, we are always (automatically) giving up on another choice. Some times those choice B's are lost forever, other times we may be able to get back to them.

When I chose to walk-on at GCSU, I gave up walking on for Duke (and Coach K was calling). When I chose to get married, I gave up on the other hotties in GA. Wait, AZ, maybe? And when I became a Naval Officer, I gave up the chance to be an enlisted dude. Are those necessarily bad things to pass on? Not really. But you have to live with your decisions.

The key before making a decision--and thus deciding on the opportunity cost, aka what you're leaving behind-- is to get as much information about the choices at hand. And with that info, weigh the pros/cons and possible outcomes of each choice. Only then, can you rationally make a decision. The results still may not be exactly what you anticipated, but those are the steps in making good decisions. And then, you can live without the trade-off.

Back from Deployment Lessons (Lesson 6)

Well, I am finally back from my 1st Naval deployment. It lasted 8 months. It was full of a lot of laughs, work, studying, XBOX, working out, missing family and friends, and seeing more of the world. I'd like to share a few lessons that I learned from this time and the people that surrounded me:

1)Not everyone is as smart as you. And you're not as smart as you think. I'm sure we all know this, but this lesson is important to remember. Be patient when dealing with people that don't quite get it. Especially when it's important. You'll want people to be patient with you when a concept is not fully understood.

2)Morality is not measured the same by everyone. No reason to expound or judge, just remember that in life. And remember not to judge.

3)Embrace different cultures. Respect them. Learn from them. Have an open mind. But keep in mind, America is absolutely the best country to live in. Hopefully it will be in 20 years.

4)Never miss the opportunity to tell your loved ones that you love them. Although relatively safe on the carrier, death is still readily available. Accidents have taken a lot of sailors lives. I've already seen it. There is still a chance of that in everyday life. I think it would be awful to suddenly die from an accident and not have my family and close friends know what they mean to me. I will try to share that more. I shared it a lot with Stacy, on whom I should focus the most. But I also want my friends and past bosses or church leaders to know that they meant something to me. So I am trying to tell them one at a time. Via email or voice to voice. You should do the same.

I'm sure there are lessons that I have yet to draw out from this experience. I'm certain they will self manifest in due time.