W of WRAP method to success Part 1

By watedroplet

Image credit: Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke on Pixabay

Referring to my previous post "Roadblocks to decision making,"  I will elaborate on the WRAP method to take our step to success. Here, W stands for widening our possible options. 

I remember my teenage days when I was so stuck with "should and must" and "whether or not" business restricting. 

Should I take this course or not?

I remember my matriculation exam and senior secondary exam days when I felt the world was only engineering or medical. There was no other option, so I chose both maths and biology to widen my scope. I had to put much effort into them, but I could do both well. As I neared the end of my senior secondary school, I felt I could not go into the medical field. I approached one of the coaching centres for engineering preparation, but my anxiety and fear of asking for clarifications made me make mistakes. The consequence was that I was told that I could not manage the pressure of preparation and school together. After that, I never tried but considered that I was not meant for the same. Finally, I was selected for nursing in the armed forces. When I moved out of my city and explored the world around I realised what I felt as a failure had actually introduced me to a new ocean of opportunities. This lesson of widening my horizon was not at all entering my head till the time I was successful. I started to explore other opportunities when I failed to get what I wanted my way. Today, I admire that failure because if that had not happened in my life I would have never learned to be resilient and fight till I make it. 

I must clear this exam, or else I am a failure? 

I used to take failures as the end always and feel depressed. THE END. My failures taught me to find the collaterals that ultimately made me reach my goals. As a nurse, I joined my professional journey learning patience and perseverance to reap fruits. When I became good at this, it was time to be promoted and my life took a great turn I had to decide whether should I continue as a nurse or give my life a second try. I landed on whether or not the dilemma? 

Whether what I am doing is right or not?

I always had a fear of making wrong decisions and laboured too much to make things happen right, which stressed me a lot. Yes, before deciding, we should ponder over it, but, for me it was like visualising all the negatives that can happen. This is insanity. I only looked for the negatives and feared till death that what I might choose would only bring wrong and delayed decisions. 

This brought me to the concept of opportunity cost.

Opportunity cost talks about what I am gaining and what I am losing. In any of the decisions, we have to make choices in which some of the things I lay off to gain something. I remember my school days when we were preparing for our competitive exams. Each form used to cost around RS. 300-500. So, if we plan to give 5 exams- RS. 2500 was the expanse. Hence, here we chose the opportunity to take 5 exams to make our future brighter at the cost of not taking a new dress during our festivals. Such trade-offs make us more responsible and help us not to be blamers but one who knows what I am doing and stands for it. 

    This opportunity cost also pushes us to the extent that we try to find out what possible options are there and which all I can afford at this moment of my life would serve best to my purpose. 

    I can recollect from my vast past experiences that this opportunity cost has helped me to make wise decisions when I felt I was stuck. I will share one of my such situations. It was my midway of life. I was looking for a job in my own field. Despite experience and excellence, I could not secure a position for myself. I felt lost and a failure and nowhere to go. I was like, now what? I made a choice to complete my college. I got admitted to my master's degree in my mid-thirties. The choice was tough. I have to go back to college with students of much younger age. On the other hand, this was the place where I was reminded of all my shattered dreams and saw how well I now fit them all. That was a revolutionary move in my life. I never thought I would be able to live my dreams. I have to leave my job quest and earnings to reintroduce myself to my lost dreams. This trade-off made me feel content and contributing rather than dragging on life. All this was possible because I chose to widen my options. When life presented me with a jobless state that refused to change, I took a turn and chose to use this time to build my educational background. 

Always remember to ask these whenever you find it tough to decide:

a) What am I giving up by making this choice? 

b) What else could I do with the same time and money?


When life seems tough and a DEAD END ahead, take a 360-degree turn and explore the possible opportunities you have around. Nothing goes a waste until you consider it a waste. 


Comments

  1. Pradeep Nair23 September 2024 at 00:13

    I liked that bit about opportunity cost. I didn't know this term. But I now realise I often was making decisions based on opportunity cost. Though it's an economics term, it helps us make reasonable and rational decisions. My father used to tell me, for every gain, we need to give up something, and that nothing comes without some cost. It's so true!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Water14 October 2024 at 16:20

      Yes, Opportunity cost is an economic term, but we all use it unknowingly.

      Delete

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