How Do You Invest Your Time? Your Most Precious Ally

Most of us at some point or another in our lives cry out that we just don’t have enough time.

Enough time to get our stuff done, accomplish our goals, relax, meet up with our friends, or spend quality moments with our family and loved ones.

It seems we are often at war with time itself.

But wouldn’t it be so much nicer if time was our friend, and not our foe?

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”

Leo Tolstoy

Time can be seen as something scarce, or be seen as something in abundance. All depending on our perspective.

Furthermore, and of utmost significance to us achieving our goals:

We can invest in time, or we can spend it….

The conceptual difference is that by seeing time as an investment, we then expect returns from how we use it.

On the other hand, seeing time as a finite resource means we use it up as we spend it.

Time grows when we invest in it.
Time diminishes when we spend it.

“Stop spending your time; start investing your time.”

Al Duncan

To help make the point, think of the following vacation example.

How did you spend your holiday Robert?

A
Yeah, Stan, I went to the southern coast and you know there was just so much to see and do but I didn’t have time for it all. Everything was beautiful but man was it expensive. And it all passed by so fast, I wish I was still there.

B
Actually Stan, I invested my time in giving the best to myself and allowing myself to recharge. I also learned how to deeply relax and appreciate all the little things.
I feel like after this experience I have a deeper and more well-rounded perspective on life.

In the first example, Robert spent his time on a bittersweet vacation. In the second, Robert invested his time in a transformative experience.

In the first, he used resources and ran out of time. In the second, he gained perspective and a quality of life, by investing in himself and his relationship with time.

Fundamentally, the second scenario was an example of deliberation and self-determination, where the actor looked for and created an outcome. These outcomes were the return on his time investment.

So, from just this one example, we can see how time appears different depending on how we approach it. We can appreciate how time can be both our ally and our foe.

“You will never ‘find’ time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.”

Charles Buxton

Try taking the example above and applying it to real life.

At the end of everyday, we can review what time gave to us as we spent our focus on various things and people throughout the day. You may notice that gratitude and appreciation arises for all we learned and experienced.

This ROI for time invested will of course be somewhat qualitative as well as unique for each of us. But you’ll be surprised how life starts to turn into a fun game rather than an endless rat race.

“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”

Steve Jobs

As you look for new financial investments to assure a better financial quality of life, consider also how your time investments can help bring you a better overall quality of life.

In these trying times we need all the help we can get to keep a level head, and our eyes on the prize. Til next time, stay safe, and invest wisely…