Money Isn't the Most Valuable Currency... Time Is
You're free when no one can buy your time.
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Happy Sunday Fam!
I want to talk about money… Money as a means, money as a tool, money as an energy.
And I want to talk about its arch rival… time… time as a means, time as a tool, time as an energy.
Why is Time More Valuable Than Money
Well, to live in this world, we all need money. Let’s get that out of the way.
Money is an amazing tool… when used appropriately… that can help a person build, provide, create and contribute in a variety of ways that affect their life, their loved ones and the world in which they serve.
We use money to exchange value in goods and services… and we use money to make more money so we can create wealth to serve family and community.
But wealth alone is not just the accumulation of money.
In fact, many wealthy people would argue that money is only a part of what makes wealth.
Why?
Because they know the value of time… especially if they took a substantial amount of their life (time) to build wealth.
Why is time more valuable than money?
When you lose time, you cannot get it back.
At any given moment, we are at the mercy of time in that it could be all up today.
The more I work, the more time it takes, which won’t yield more money but more lost time.
More work and more time does not equal more wealth… it equals less time and more burnout.
When we lose money, we can make more of it. When we lose time, it’s gone forever.
Money only has value placed on it by society’s willing to part with it for a particular good or service. Society’s willing to part with time isn’t a choice.
The fact is, when we give precedence to time, we have more… more health, more wealth, more contribution, more life. 👇🏼
Why Money Alone Cannot Compete With Time, But Rather Needs It.
I want you to think of money in these two ways:
If I invest in my health, which requires time and money, I can contribute more to the world.
If I invest in systems, which requires time and money, I can create more time to invest in my health.
A healthy version of me, preserves time… that is, time allows me to become more clear, directional and intentional on where I’m focused and how I deliver what I’m focused on in that most optimal time.
A “systems” version of me, preserves time… that is, time is freed up by mechanisms and “flows” that improve performance in life, business and health.
What I implement to work for me actually works for the greater good of my highest point of contributions. In short, systems free me to show up more in the world while maximizing the time I have remaining.
In other words, we earn smarter when we master time.
Why?
Because investing in time allows us to expand our health…
expanding our health allows us to expand our minds…
expanding our minds allows us to expand in our processes and approaches…
expanding in our processes and approaches expands our earning potential…
expanding our earning potential expands our provision and contribution.
Money needs time.
So… how do we gain more control over time? 👇🏼
Myths on Time & How to Gain More Control Over It
Do any of these Myths sound familiar:
I don’t have enough time in the day to get to everything
The more I work, the more successful I’ll be
Rest and relaxation will only slow me down
I’ll get to it later
If you haven’t experienced at least one of those in this lifetime, are you even human 😂👀
In all seriousness, we have been living in a societal structure that has placed so much emphasis on abusing time rather than mastering it… and that the above statements are not only natural, they’ve been accepted as truth.
I fundamentally disagree.
Myth 1: I don’t have enough time in the day
The truth?
You do, but you don’t have a relationship with time.
Ask yourself… If you don’t have enough time in the day, how have others been able to accomplish more in less time?
And I’m not talking about people who’ve already “made it” financially and pay for others to do a lot of the work. 😂
So, how do you find more time in the day? Go seek it.
SOLUTION:
I audited my time for 7 days to see how I was using it every hour on the hour.
I then thought about my daily activities… health, personal time with friends or family, my businesses, my writing and creativity… what times of the day do I want to spend on them and what current activities was I doing inside that designated time.
I wrote on a recent post about consistency and the power of calendaring my week.
Since then, I’ve taken it even further.
After observing my energy for a couple of weeks, what times of day I’m most productive, what times are better for leisure, what times are better for meetings, what times are better for personal… I was able to not only create a schedule that works for me, but now I feel like I’m the one designing my days.
Knowing exactly what times of each day I’ll be dedicating to an area of my life is the start.
I then take Sunday to plan out the whole week… not just the next day, but the whole week including the “sub-activities” that are related to my highest priorities in each of those designated areas of my life.
This has allowed me to guess less about what I’m doing with my time and become more clear, productive and directional.
Suddenly I’m doing more in less time yet also have a life and less stress. Don’t be fooled by time, make it your ally.
Myth 2: The more I work, the more successful I’ll be.
The truth?
Wealth isn’t created by using up more time. It is created by maximizing the output within a given amount of time.
Your labor can only go so far in exchange for minutes. More labor and more time cause burnout, fatigue and health issues.
The truth is, you need “systems” in place to take on the work so you can 2x, 3x or even 10x your output.
Tasks that take an immense amount of your time can usually be automated with a piece of technology.
I’m not saying to leave everything to the robots. I know many creatives and those who lack letting go of control, struggle with “automation” (as did I for many years), but there are smarter ways to tackle administrative tasks, sales, marketing, payment processing and more. Even your home has systems, but more on that for another time.
We are moving more and more into automation… not because the robots are taking over but because quality of life is coming to the forefront and technology (the good side of it) is giving us that leverage.
Learn it, use it, thank me later.
Myth 3: Rest and relaxation will only slow me down.
The truth?
Absolutely, 100% FALSE!
Sleep and rest accelerate everything in your life
Here are just a few advantages to sleep (preferred 8 hours), rest and relaxation
It restores, rejuvenates and reduces inflammation in the body
Improves brain function
Improves emotions
Boosts your immune system
Lowers stress
Increases productivity output
Increases creativity
While it’s true that the right brain is more creative than the left brain, both sides contribute to the creative process. Better sleep helps the brain make connections and solve problems, fueling the creative process. Without sleep, the brain struggles to form ideas and perform at its best…
Those who get enough sleep are more likely to start the day feeling refreshed. Sufficient sleep may cause you to feel more energetic and experience more positive emotions. This boost makes it easier to handle stress and improves your capability to take on more challenging tasks. Experiencing more positive emotions may also give you the incentive to put into action your creative thoughts.
Malik Karman
What happens if you don’t get enough sleep?
Poor memory
Lack of focus
Mixed emotions
You can’t think as clearly
Gain weight
Decreases brain function
Causes other health issues
So, the real question is, which slows you down… getting good rest and 8 hours of sleep or less sleep / rest because you’re afraid you won’t get enough done?
Myth 4: I’ll get to it later.
The truth?
You won’t.
Truth #2… it doesn’t take as long as you think but the more you prolong doing something, the more time you “think” it takes.
“Doing it later” is one way in which you may not be clear on the priority or a direction.
From a clarity perspective, doing it later sometimes signifies that you haven’t sat with all the details that go into it so you therefore would rather do something less cognitive in the moment.
However, what if you need to do that very thing right now?
I have a philosophy I learned around this… if it takes 2 minutes or less, do it right there.
If it takes more than 2 minutes, take the 2 minutes to understand what needs to get done for that “thing” and then plan out when you’re going to set time aside to do it.
At least you’ll be clear… and this leads to direction.
I have often put things off because I was unsure of what it meant for the long run. If I know the significance of something and it’s relation to where I’m going, I wouldn’t put it off… I’d either do it or delegate it… that’s it.
Move from Money > Time to Time > Money
In the war against time and money, I want you to consider choosing time.
The world is full speed ahead with no direction. I want you to consider slowing down enough to look at how you’re using time and making it work for you instead of against you.
You don’t get any more of it, so how do you a.) slow it down, b.) do more with it, c.) have it work for your life and business, and d.) maximize your life’s output.
Slowing down will speed up all of the necessary and abundant things in your life, including your health, wealth and happiness.
Doing more with time will allow you to experience personal growth, life’s simple but powerful pleasures, connection to self, connection to God and connection to others and it will bring out your fullest potential and purpose.
Having time work for you will expand your creativity, output and earning potential.
Maximizing your life’s output will have you contributing all your gifts for the time you are here and leave something behind for future generations.
Money is not full freedom… time is.
Master time, create your life.
Read this week’s Simplify, Multiply, Diversify below…👇🏼
SIMPLIFY…
You're free when no one can buy your time.
Translation:
We are often enslaved to our work because need to make more money. We need to make more money because we are enslaved to our time.
Reverse engineer.
Start inputting mechanisms into your work that free up more time and make you more money.
As you make more money, start investing it into buying back more time.
The more time you own, the less you are enslaved to it and the more valuable others are willing to pay you for it.
MULTIPLY…
Mastering time is about mastering your personal choices… all of which should start with your health.
When you’re healthy, you’re clear. When you’re clear, you’re directional. When you’re directional, you’re disciplined. When you’re disciplined, you’re unstoppable.
DIVERSIFY…
Mastering time allows you to master multiple areas of your life. It also allows you to have multiple streams of income.
Let systems personalize more of your gifts to the world while simultaneously building your life and your business in the process.
Whenever you’re ready, there are several ways I can help…
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Want to learn how to expand your creativity through content to reach more people w/out burning out in the process? Register ➠ Free Content Workshop
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In the meantime, tell your friends!
This letter is reminding me of the interconnectedness of all things. The flow of one aligned action to the next.
I have definitely shifted into owning my time and being aware of the value of my time. I always get to choose what feels good for me and that to me is the ultimate freedom that I have developed through CONSISTENT aligned action. 💚