How do I practice opportunity cost thinking?

The most direct way to practice opportunity cost thinking is through a focused exercise: Pick one commitment you made this week — a meeting you accepted, a project you started, a purchase you made. Write down three specific things that time or money could have gone toward instead. Now honestly assess: did you consider any of those alternatives before committing? If not, you've just caught opportunity cost neglect in action. Repeat this weekly until the comparison becomes automatic.

Common pitfall: Treating opportunity cost as a reason to never commit to anything. Analysis paralysis is not opportunity cost thinking — it's the failure mode of opportunity cost thinking. The goal is not to agonize over every alternative. It's to build the reflex of asking 'what am I giving up?' before the commitment is made, then deciding quickly. If you find yourself unable to choose because every option has costs, you've turned a decision tool into a procrastination device.

This practice connects to Phase 23 (Decision Frameworks) — building it as a repeatable habit compounds over time.