The number one asset that you can become obsessed with is your time. Why? No matter how filthy rich you are, you can never buy more of it.
Your time one Earth is limited. How much time on average? 78 years for Americans according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. That’s 28,470 days, 683,280 hours. Sleep away a third and it’s not that f*cking much.
The average American spends 34 hours a week watching television, now you really just shortened your life.
Oh, yeah… what about work?
At the end of the day, when you’re on your deathbed, I doubt you’ll say “damn, I wish I worked more.” This article, isn’t a pump you up to quit corporate America article, so I’ll save my breath. If you aren’t thrilled about your job, do something about it. Hopefully, your career is not just a means to an end. But if it is, don’t let the “end” be at the end of your life. Do it now.
Also…make sure the end is somewhere awesome. Maybe it means stacking cash so you can go do something cool with your time, or maybe your career allows you to work from wherever you want, or sends you on assignments where you can see the world and spend time with cool people… but most importantly, and not just at work, you should consider…
What are you going to be remembered for?
Which roughly translates to: How did I spend my time?
You’ve heard us start using the tagline, “Life is all about the experience.” You may have heard me talk about entrepreneurship as a vehicle to have more experiences… Here’s why:
I was 19, at the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization National Conference. I just had dinner at the same table as Herb Kelleher, Founder of Southwest Airlines, and Steve Wozniak, Co-founder of Apple. My mind was blown. I wandered over to reflect by the pool, when a student from Manitoba, decided to tell me how this conference changed his life…
“I realized something this weekend,” he told me. ”At the end of the day, life is all about experiences. Some people collect art, some people want money… but when my time has run out, I want my life to be about the accumulation of stories…and entrepreneurship is going to be my vehicle to do that.”
Accumulate quality memories with quality people.
My friend from the coldest place on the planet, could not have been more right. Since that point on, I’ve become obsessed with the accumulation of stories. The story of building a business, travel, stories of awesome times, with awesome people…
It’s the ultimate metric: quality time. Take a minute to quantify the following about your life and business…
-How many of your daily tasks actually matter?
-What’s the ROI on my time on each of my tasks?
-What percentage of your tasks were actually income producing?
-How much revenue did you produce with your time?
-How much impact did you make during your last work week?
-How much time are your employees engaged, motivated, and productive?
-How much of your time was spent talking vs. listening?
-How much of your time did you spend talking vs. actually saying something?
-How much time did you spend on Facebook vs. doing things that you love?
-What percentage of your time was spent thinking positively vs. negatively?
-How many quality conversations have you had lately?
-What percentage of your time was spent with people who you consider close friends and family?
-How many recent moments will you remember forever?
-How much money did it take to have those moments?
-How much of the money I spent this month made my life better?
This list is a just a starter, how you measure and what you do with these metrics is up to you…
But to get real zen on you, my metric obsessed friends, it’s really not about how much time you have, it’s about the quality of your times. In other words, it’s not about the years in your life, but the life in your years. If we can’t buy any more of it, everything we do should be measured as an investment in making your time on this planet as quality as possible.
If you’re looking to accumulate stories, start experiencing life, and spend quality time with quality people, check out our Under30Experiences: Microfinance Surf Camp to Nicaragua. Registration opens tomorrow, so hop on the list to receive more information ASAP.
Matt Wilson is co-founder of Under30Media.
Follow @MattWilsontv
