What is running on someone else's
script really costing you?
Your personal ROI on change — in money, time, and life.
Opportunity cost is what you give up by choosing not to take action. This calculator makes that number visible.
Your Cost of Inaction
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The programme that addresses this costs a fraction of what you've just calculated. Rewrite Your Script — a 3-month group programme for leaders who are done performing someone else's version of success.
Applications are open →Where this came from
When Meggi moved from P&G (great salary plus bonus, 55h+ weeks) to the ICRC (roughly two-thirds of the P&G package, 40h weeks), the headline looked like a 33% pay cut. Factor in the overtime she was no longer working, and on effective hourly rate it was under 7%. That question — not what you earn, but what you earn per hour you actually work — is one most people never ask.
A second inspiration came from a friend who assigns a personal hourly rate to every commitment. Would you take a 10-hour flight that costs half as much as a 5-hour one? How much is your time actually worth? This calculator applies both ideas: your effective rate as a baseline, and the compound cost of staying in a pattern that no longer serves you — across money, time, and quality of life.
This is a work in progress. The numbers are deliberately imprecise — precise enough to be useful, rough enough to be honest. If you have thoughts, challenges to the methodology, or want to share your result, drop us a line at info@meggirombach.com
Methodology & Assumptions
* Headline vs. real pay cut — Headline pay cut compares annual salaries directly: (current salary − alternative salary) ÷ current salary. Real pay cut compares hourly rates instead: (your real hourly rate − the alternative role's 40h hourly rate) ÷ your real hourly rate — using the hours you actually work, not your contracted hours. Because unpaid overtime already erodes your real hourly rate, the real cut is often smaller than the headline number suggests — sometimes there's no real cut at all.
† Overtime value is shown separately from the annual financial cost. It represents the monetary value of unpaid hours at your effective hourly rate. It is not added into the annual financial cost total, because the attention tax and hourly gap metrics already reflect the wage impact of excess hours — adding overtime again would double-count the same hours.
‡ Annual financial cost = attention tax + coping costs (therapy + other coping + numbing) × 12 + quality time missed (events/month × 2h average × hourly value of personal time × 12) + presence loss hours × hourly value × 48 weeks + health cost × 12 + hourly gap × actual hours × 48 weeks. Focus hours are capped to daily work hours. Presence hours are capped to available personal time (168h − work hours − 56h sleep) to prevent double-counting. Daily cost = annual financial cost ÷ 365.
§ 5-year pattern-repeat multiplier — Scoring 7/10 gives a multiplier of 1 + (7/10 × 0.5) = 1.35. The 5-year projection = annual cost × 5 × 1.35. The logic: behavioural economics and life script research (Berne, 1964; Young schema therapy, 2024) consistently find that unaddressed patterns don't just repeat — they compound, because each iteration reinforces the underlying schema. The multiplier is conservative: a score of 10/10 adds only 50% to the 5-year total (multiplier 1.5). A score of 0 means no uplift — the cost simply repeats linearly.
| Assumption | Value | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Working weeks / year | 48 | 52 weeks minus ~4 weeks leave and bank holidays |
| Working days / year | 220 | Used for attention tax calculation (focus hours × days) |
| Daily cost divisor | 365 | Conservative — makes the number smaller and harder to argue with |
| Avg. event duration (missed) | 2 hours | Applied to quality-time missed calculation |
| Alt. salary hourly rate | Alt salary ÷ (40 × 48) | Assumes 40h weeks, 48 working weeks |
| Sleep hours per week | 56 (8h × 7) | Used to calculate available personal time for double-count guard |
| Presence loss | Capped to personal time | 168h − actual work hrs − 56h sleep = available personal time. Presence hours cannot exceed this. |
All figures are estimates for reflection purposes only. Not financial advice. The goal is awareness, not precision.
Successful, respected and fed up? Stop working from chronic stress and unluck your career options.
Join the Rewrite Your Script – 3m coaching programme.
A 3-month coaching programme for senior professionals ready to name their script, spot the patterns holding them back, reset their compass and design their next chapter intentionally. Applications open – October 2026 founding cohort. Maximum 5–8 people.
Built by Meggi Rombach – 20+ years across P&G, UNICEF and the Red Cross.
Click here for more info and to apply for a spot in the founding cohort
