This Week
As I was sipping my Monday morning coffee this week, I got smacked in the face by one of the best blogs I’ve read in awhile on a new concept to me: being a Time Billionaire.
I encourage you to read the full article but a TLDR version is this: Time is our most valuable asset.
Let’s explore this.
A million seconds is 11 days. A billion seconds is over 31 years. You may think someone like Warren Buffet has every advantage of you because of his wealth. But if we were to ask Warren if he would rather have dollars of dollars or a few decades of time, I think he’d be looking to trade quicker than Bill Belichick on draft day.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely in your twenties or thirties. If that’s the case, and you live an average life span, you are a Time Multi-Billionaire. Even if you’re 50 years old you’re a Time Billionaire. As Mick would say, “time is on your side”.
Here’s why I think this is so powerful: if you’re fortunate enough to have time on your side, you can use this to your advantage. You can use that time to gain the skills, knowledge, experiences, relationships, and money you need to be successful.
Warren Buffet clearly knows the value of money. He still pinches pennies and eats McDonald’s for breakfast most mornings (we’ll ignore the health concerns on that for now). Why? Probably because he priorities where his money can work: by investing it and ultimately donating the majority of his wealth away to help the world after he passes.
So, you’re a Time Billionaire. Congrats! But it’s not time to pop the champagne just yet.
Let’s use time to our advantage. Let’s use it as leverage. Let’s use it to gain an edge.
Here are a few ways we can do this:
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Learn! Read books. Listen to podcasts. Take notes on them and continue to open yourself up to new ideas.
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Develop skills. It doesn’t have to be what your parents want or what society wants but it’s time to develop some real skills that interest you: coding, writing, selling, investing, cooking, gardening. Whatever it may be, take the time to develop those skills.
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Invest in your health. You know what could screw up your Time Billionaire status? By not taking care of yourself. Exercise, eat right, sleep, you know the drill.
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Double down on relationships. Of course I mean this in a professional sense and to network, but more importantly, spend time with the people that you’re closest to. Maybe the people you live with, the people you share a last name with, your parents or grandparents if you’re lucky enough to have them alive. Because whether you have a billion dollars or a billion seconds, you’re going to get lonely as hell if you don’t share it with people.
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Make money with your money. If you have decades left in your life, it would make sense to let your money compound itself and work for you rather than spend it all, wouldn’t it?
As the blog author wrote, “having a billion dollars is great, but having a billion seconds is priceless.” If this didn’t wake you up, check out Tim Urban’s life calendar to really put in perspective how quickly those few billion seconds will truly fly by.
Let’s get after it this week. The clock is ticking.
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