It’s Time!
Just as luck, Time is also a relative entity. Before Einstein proposed his unprecedented idea, most of us did believe the Time is absolute. It turns out the exact opposite is true.
We all have a limited amount of time in Earth’s hotel - we all have to check out the room when our time is up. There is no exception. The rich, the poor, the famous, the everyday Joe, we are all equal in the face of time.
There are 24 hours in a day, which is 1440 minutes, which is 86400 seconds. Whenever I can, I always ask others how they usually spend their time.
Here is a little fun fact: on average, we have about 2-3 hours left in a day after completing all the day-to-day tasks, such as commuting to work, eating, and sleeping. I called it free-time.
What you do with this free-time will determine who you are in the future. If you spend a good 30 minutes of that time to do some cardio exercises, you will have a body your friends admire. If you spend an hour of that time to do some reading, you will have a mind your friends admire…
Time doesn’t matter
Many people haven’t realised the profound impact of that free-time. It was overlooked, underappreciated and undervalued. Why? Because the real magic happens when the repetition occurs consistently.
Everyone can get up at 5 am and go to the gym once a month; few people can do that three times a week, and only very few people can do that six times a week. The challenges arise when you are trying to make it a habit; this is what the resistance is, according to Steven Pressfield’s book The War of Art.
Once you start the repetition, you begin to change the equation from addition to multiplication.
If you only invest $1 a day into a Standard and Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) company from 1970 to 2010 non-stop, how much profit will that investment return? A lot of millions, at least.
If you find a piece of paper and fold it in half, repeat this process 50 times. How tall will that paper be? The answer is, it can reach the sky!
As you can see, a small act, repeated, result in an unimaginable outcome. That’s what the compounding effect is.
Time doesn’t matter; all the matter is the Times
Know the time vs knowing the time
I have always worn a watch; therefore, I know the time; however, I never thought about the time has passed and the time remains on the clock.
A lot of us believe the time is just a measuring unit, nothing mysterious. In contrast, if you ask any terminal cancer patients whose days are numbered, they will give you a radically different perspective on time. You only start to appreciate and comprehend the essence of time when you don’t have a lot of it left on your watch.
You can look up the time on your watch or smartphone; however, knowing the time is to understand the significance of time has past and time has yet to come - the future.
There is little hope to persuade someone to appreciate their time on Earth. Most likely, they will think you are such a weirdo. From my experience, have them to look back, and at the same time, look forward, does the trick beautifully. By doing this, it provides them with an excellent context for understanding the fleeting nature of time.
What time is it now?
The problem with Time is that most of us think it is an infinite resource until we are approaching death. Time is a resource with limited availability.
Imagine you have $1200 in your pocket, and I ask you to throw one-third of it away. How would you feel? You will experience tons of emotions afterwards. What will you do next? You are going to protect the rest like your newborn baby.
Are you ready for another fun fact? On average, a human being spends one-third of their life just doing one thing (actually, there is not much doing involved). Yes! You guessed it right, sleeping.
Sleeping was the $400 we throw away, and whatever time you have left is precious. Treat it like your baby. Use it wisely.
Time is not money
Benjamin Franklin once famously asserted, “Time is Money”. I respectfully disagree. Simply due to the fact, there is inflation in money; however, there is none in Time.
One million dollars in 1900, adjusted for inflation, is about 31 Million in today’s money. One hour in 1900 is 3600 seconds, and it is still valid today.
Time is not money; because time is better than money. Every second of hard work you have put into whatever you are doing counted as one whole second! It’s not going to fluctuate simply because a recession just hit us.
Time gives the poor and rich an equal playing field. No one is going to get more than 24 hours a day just because they are rich. Time is fair; on the other hand, money is not.
Your time is limited. Your potential is unlimited.
Use your limited time to explore and express your unlimited potential!