Don't even think about it, say the first thing that pops up in your mind, "What's the most valuable thing in the world?". Obviously, I can't know what you said but I can suspect a few possible answers. Here is a safe space, by the way, it's just you and me, so don't be ashamed. So what was the first thing that popped up?
I'm sorry did you just say "Keeping up with the Kardashians"? Yeah, I'm going to suppose this was a joke and move on.
Did you maybe say, family? If this was your answer then that's something I can't argue with. Family is everything. Not just the one you are born with, but also the one you create at one point in your life. Marrying your soulmate, having children, raising your children, having fun with your children, seeing them create their own family, ugh if that was a movie I'd be cuddling my tissues right now. But any way family is undeniably one of the most important things in life, sadly that's not what I meant.
If it was money, then I still can't argue with you, who doesn't want money right? Actually allow me to put it differently, who doesn't need money right? We both need money. But you see, needing money is really a debatable issue. Lots of celebrities, show you what lavish lifestyle money can offer you, but others show you how can happy you can be living below your means. Damn, I like our conversation, I'm sorry if I talk too much that's just me, I hope I'm not driving you crazy.
Anywho, waking up at 5 in the morning, to go and work your ass off for 8 hours, and waiting for your bank account to ring at the end of the month indicates that we both need money. Pay your bills, feed your family, afford the house, afford the car, afford a day to Disneyland, afford a vacation in Europe, yeah I know lots of "afford" here but yeah we need money. Still, I don't believe it's the most valuable thing. Okay calm down, I'm not trying to fight, we are just having a chat here.
If it's not family or money, - or "Keeping up with the Kardashians" - then what is it?
It's TIME. "Woah man you just discovered pizza", yeah I know a lot of you already knew that or heard it from someone else, but it's true. The most valuable thing in the world is time and before you come at me, I can back it up. Can you get back money? Yeah, it may take a while but you can. What about family? It doesn't work in the same context so let's just put it into context. You can get back money, but you can't get back time that you spend chasing money instead of spending it with your family. That was a good one let me quote it because I liked it.
You can get back money, but you can't get back time that you spend chasing money instead of spending it with your family
So it's safe to say that on a scale, time is the most important thing. I just finished my service in the army - 1 year and 2 months - and you know being in the army is hard. Limited time for yourself, limited fun with your friends and family, no time to do your hobbies, and the whole situation is not much fun.
I'm a young man ready to live life and explore sh*t, and I was thinking about how many things I could do in that one year. I'm thinking about how far would I be if I had started my freelancing career then, or how many events and night outs I missed with my friends and family because I was in the army. I was thinking that I can't get this time back.
In a few weeks, I'm going to study abroad. As I got out of the army I was like "Okay, not much time left for me to start packing my bags, so let's just take advantage of this little gap I have available". Do you know what I ended up doing? Watching Netflix, drinking beers, and sleeping. Sure I had a few night outs but still, it sucks not doing anything all day. Not until my dad confronted me explaining that Netflix ain't going to do anything for me, and that sleeping all day only f*cks me up.
Yeah, that's when it hit me. I could feel his disappointment. My stomach got messed up like I had a comb or something. I knew it was time to change that. Man, I'm going to leave in less than a month and all I do is just sit and get fat. I didn't like that.
The next morning I woke up, got dressed, had some fried eggs for breakfast, made a cup of coffee, and sat outside with my dad just having a morning together. Just this simple morning made me feel energized and that I did something that mattered. It felt weirdly good. Even though me and my dad are not very talkative, just sitting there drinking coffee while enjoying the sunrise was just pure serenity.
Anyway, I continued the day by reading my book ("You Can't Hurt Me" by David Goggins, an amazing book), and then I said, "Reading books is nice but I have to get busy". Grabbed my laptop and started what I always wanted to start. I researched and found almost every free resource for learning Copywriting and started reading. Then I hopped to check how the crypto market is doing, and later I started studying other aspects of Digital Marketing like Social Media and Email.
It was a great feeling to know that you are doing something valuable, something that benefits you, and my confidence burst out higher than Burj Khalifa. But after a long day of learning/working, you need something to get your mind off, a hobby, something enjoyable that will give your brain a rest.
For me, that's football(soccer) and I love it. I love every second of playing football. I forget everything, I'm letting my brain relieve and all I'm thinking is to have fun, exercise, and get physically tired. What relaxes you might be totally different from football, you might enjoy running, working out, playing basketball, and dancing. It doesn't even have to be physical. You might enjoy painting, playing an instrument, or even singing. Just make sure that you spend your time doing something valuable and that it benefits you.
I keep mentioning that your time needs to be spent positively in a way that benefits you and provides value to you. I believe that my time needs to be exchanged for actions that will either make me richer, make me wiser, or make me happier. I'm working to be richer, I'm learning to be wiser, and I'm entertaining myself to be happy.
Can you back the time you lost scrolling through Instagram reels? "Ah let's open Instagram to see what happens around the world", and just like that 30 minutes of your day are gone, and you'll never get back. And that keeps happening daily and you don't realize how fast time goes by, and how valuable that time is.
The unawareness of how important time management is is high and it's sad. That's what I'm trying to do, to ring your brain a little bit and make you realize the importance of your valuable time. Time management is a brought area and cannot be covered in a single article. This was a little bit of a backstory of how I was "woken up" and started treating my time differently.
The important thing I'd like you to hold from this book is to remember that your time needs to be exchanged in a way that will make you happier, richer, or wiser. You will start noticing the positive effect that this little shift will bring to your life.
As we said, money is not the most important thing, it doesn't hold the same amount of power as your time and your family, but it's still important, and if you know where to spend your money, your life just gets a little bit brighter.
We'll talk more about time, in a more comprehensive article on how you can take 100% advantage of your time and shift your whole mindset into performing actions that have only positive effects. It was a nice talk, to be honest, and I'd love to talk again.
