Time vs. Money
What is time? Turns out there are multiple answers to this questions and the topic can get quite philosophical. For purposes of this article, let's consider time to be the connection between the past, present, and future - specifically relevant to us and Earth. I know…my brain almost hurts considering even this lame conceptual reference. For us, time is finite. We will not get more of it. We can potentially affect our longevity with healthy choices, however the law of averages will eventually have its way with us. This is not to say that we should not do everything possible to be healthy, but realistic about our actual “choice” in the matter.
So time is finite and it consists of events and moments. In general we might agree that a “good life” means we used our time wisely and in ways that improved something. The something could be our financial position, societal position, our community, our relationships, society in general, etc. Our time on Earth is finite.
What is money? Money equals trust. Its value is based solely on trust between those exchanging it. Otherwise it is as useless as an old faded newspaper. The interesting thing about money is that it is nearly infinite. A single individual cannot possibly secure it all and there is more than enough to go around. Money as it relates to work is exchanged based on the perceived value of the effort applied to earn it. To get more money, we should (theoretically) bring more value. This is how the most expansive systems work. For example, capitalism utilizes this trust/value exchange method for its markets. I do not wish to get into semantics about the effectiveness, but only to offer an example of a system of exchange.
We most often measure our success by the amount earned per hour. Even if we are salaried, the tendency is to divide the salary by the hours worked to get a theoretical dollar per hour measure of our success. I believe we have it backwards because money is infinite and time is finite. With this concept in mind, it would seem to make sense for us to determine what we are willing to trade for our time. Time is more valuable than coin because the supply is limited. When governments get short on money, they print more. This dilutes its value and degrades the reward for the exchange of our precious time.
What if you took some time to determine what you would be willing to trade for your time? What if you thought about the finite resource that is time drifting by as you trade it for dollars? I realize that our survival depends on it. I wish I had a bullet list of solutions that could help us value and utilize time in a way that is most meaningful to us but I don’t. I just have a theory about leverage and a belief that if we are able to leverage our time, it will help ensure we maximize it. I want to leverage my time by putting money to work for me. Freedom is not having to work like crazy everyday to survive. Freedom is choice. When we leverage our skills, we can have more freedom. It does not happen overnight. It happens through consistent planning everyday.
