Opportunity cost is what disappears quietly while everyone watches what you gained.

Attention follows what appeared, never what did not. You can see the job you took, the city you moved to, the person you chose, and you can never see the version that did not happen, so the gain is vivid and the cost stays theoretical. That asymmetry makes most decisions look better than they were.

When judging a past decision, spend a moment imagining the road not taken honestly, neither romanticised nor dismissed. It makes your next choice more accurate and your regret less certain.