How often have we heard a motivational speaker, minister or therapist tell us that time is our most valuable asset? If I had a dollar for each time I have heard this statement, I would be a very wealthy man indeed. Yet, in spite of being told this repeatedly throughout my life, I’ve found myself wondering if I have invested that asset in a way that will prove beneficial to me in years to come.
This sort of soul searching has led me to believe I could definitely have made wiser investments with my time as a youth. However, I am quite satisfied that my time invested in recent years will hold a payoff, that even though I might not see the results, others around me most certainly will profit from it. Here is a little bit of insight I have gathered on this journey called life that could help you invest your time more wisely.
Youth Is Wasted on the Young
Being young definitely has its advantages. At 40, I long for the days when I could roll out of bed at six in the morning on a Saturday and go sling hay bales for 12 hours after being out till the early hours of the morning with my friends on Friday night. Now, just the thought of rolling out of bed at six in the morning makes me grimace in pain.
In my teens and twenties I squandered most of my time, as do many of us during those coming of age years. My complete misuse of my life was not due to being uneducated, for I had many people trying to help keep me focused on the straight and narrow. No, it was instead, my own pig headed choice to ignore instruction and make my “own path in life.”
I did forge a path, but it was not a path to success. It was in fact, a path only to emptiness and loss. Eventually, the parties did not satisfy, the activities did not entertain and the life I was living seemed completely without purpose.
Focusing our energy on achieving goals when we are young is the single biggest key to success later in life. The lifestyle we teach ourselves to lead in our twenties will be the defining factor of our lifestyle later in life. Today’s society tends to encourage instant gratification rather than long term investment. We have taught our last two generations to buy on credit, rather than saving and paying cash. The idea of being wealthy appeals to almost everyone, yet less than 1% of adults actually lead a lifestyle that leads to wealth.
The biggest asset young people waste is time.
Time Is Irreplaceable
The first thing you must realize, in order to invest your life wisely, is that time is irreplaceable. You see, no matter what resource you need in your life, there is always a way to create more of it. If you need more money, you can work an extra job to create it. If you need more food, you can replenish your cupboard by visiting the supermarket. However, time cannot be created or replaced. Once it is spent, it is gone forever.
This is perhaps the hardest part of life for a young person to fully understand. We convince ourselves that we will live forever and that nothing can harm us. Because of that mentality we also convince ourselves that we can focus on life goals later. This is what leads to our complete waste of valuable time.
If we truly want to be successful in life we must invest our time in activities that lead us to success. Studying successful people in our chosen profession is one way to use our time wisely. Learning what works and what doesn’t from the experience of others is much more efficient than going through the trial and error phase ourselves.
By constantly reminding ourselves that our time is already measured and set we can then focus on using that time wisely.
Invest in Others in Order to Invest in Yourself
If there is one lesson I strive to teach my children, it is the same one my father worked to instill into me. That lesson is to carefully invest your time into other people. For me, that means working with various organizations that help our veterans. My daughters are also very involved with the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary and other charitable outreaches. I have found this is an excellent means of investing my time and teaching my children to invest their time in other people.
By carefully using our time to help these organizations I have watched our efforts affect the lives of many people. However, I have also seen how it has affected our lives as well. My children are grateful for those who have served in the military and it has helped them to understand the sacrifices made for them by other people to protect their freedom.
This has also taught all of how to effectively meet a need in someone else’s life. Using this skill has proven to be a very valuable investment in ourselves, because we have learned much about our own character through it.
Someone once told me “the only thing that will matter fifty years from now is what you did to improve the life of a child.” At that moment it did not really make sense to me. However, I understand now that in fifty years I may very well be dead and gone, but if I gave lasting knowledge or help to a child they will remember that act.
Choose What to Invest Your Time in Carefully
Because your time is completely irreplaceable, be very careful what you decide to spend it on. Investing time in things that have little to no impact on the future tends to be a futile investment. That is not to say that entertainment should not be considered an investment of time, but simply to encourage us to choose wisely how we will spend that time.
Work and career maintenance can often take the forefront in our lives. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it does not stop us from focusing on other things that matter. It is easy to focus so much on our career that we allow friends, family and even our health to suffer in the aftermath.
As a father I have learned it is often better that I give up my personal preference for how I spend my time and instead invest it in my daughters. In return, I have seen my daughters willingly give up something they wanted to do, in order to invest their time in someone else. It is at those moments that I realize I am doing something right.
Time Marches On
None of us can stop, or even slow the inevitable movement of time. It is true what they say… “The days drag on, but the years fly by.” At 40, I can say that some days seem to take forever to end, but the years seem to be fleeting quickly.
As you look at the time you have today, decide to invest some of it into something meaningful. Don’t get caught up in the everyday routine to the point that you forget that your actions of today will have an impact on tomorrow. Turn your most valuable asset into your most powerful tool by investing it in such a way as to create a brighter future for yourself and those around you.
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: Unsplash