Chapter Content
Okay, so, let's talk about time wealth, right? I mean, we're always talking about money, but what about time? It's, like, our most precious resource, you know? And it's finite. That's the thing.
So, there's this story I heard about this guy, Dave Prout. Really successful in the video game industry, worked on some huge games, you know, like, Call of Duty, Halo, that kind of stuff. He was living in Austin, had a family, all that. His parents were back in Seattle, where he grew up, and he was only seeing them a couple of times a year. His mom, she was dealing with cancer, and, you know, they were hoping for the best, but...
Anyway, he saw this post somewhere, online, talking about how you only get so many visits with your parents, especially as they get older. And it kind of hit him, like, "Wow, I wonder how many times *I* have left?" You know? So, he made a real effort to see them way more often, like every six weeks for a while there. He got in a bunch of visits that otherwise wouldn't have happened, which is pretty huge.
Sadly, his mom, she passed away. But, you know, because he made that effort to see her more, he had all these extra memories, good memories, not just the hard ones from the end. It's a tough story, but it really highlights something important about time.
And this story leads into what I want to talk about: the three pillars of what I’m calling Time Wealth. What are they? Well it’s Awareness, Attention, and Control.
So, first up, Awareness. It's basically understanding that time is limited, right? That it's not infinite. We need to appreciate its value. There's this investor guy, Graham Duncan, and he calls people who have over a billion seconds left in their life "time billionaires." It's a cool concept, you know? When you're young, you're practically swimming in time. But as you get older, it starts to dwindle. It’s like, we’re so focused on money, but we forget about the fact that time is so precious. If you asked someone like Warren Buffett, would he trade a billion dollars for a billion seconds? He'd probably take the time, right? It kinda makes you think.
And this is what I think of as the "paradox of time." We *know* how valuable our time is, deep down. But we still waste it! We spend it on things that don't really matter, things that pull us away from what's truly important. So, the goal is to become more aware of just how precious our time really is. You know, before it's too late.
Okay, pillar number two: Attention. This is all about where you're focusing your mental energy. Think about Isaac Newton, right? When the plague hit, he had to stay home from college. But instead of just, like, binge-watching TV, he used that time to focus and make some incredible discoveries. I mean, calculus, gravity, the laws of motion... all that stuff! It was his "miracle year," all because he could really focus.
So, attention is about deliberately choosing where to put your limited mental energy. I think it really dictates the quality of your life. There is that scene in *Toy Story*, where Woody uses Buzz Lightyear's helmet to focus the sun's energy on the rocket, you know? Scattered sunlight wouldn't do anything, but focused sunlight lights the fuse. It’s the same with your attention!
Concentrated attention leads to amazing results. You put in the same amount of effort, but you get way more out of it. Which brings us to the whole idea of *asymmetric outputs*. You hear about people getting way more out of the effort they put in compared to the average person? That means they are good at directing their attention. You start running *smarter* instead of running *faster*.
Okay, so now we get to pillar number three: Control. This is the ultimate goal, really. It's about owning your time and choosing how to spend it. Cassie Holmes, she's a professor who studies happiness and free time. And, you know what she found? Too much free time can actually make you *unhappy*! It's all about finding that "Goldilocks" level, just the right amount. That's what control gives you.
It puts you in the driver's seat, so you can decide what you do, when you do it, and who you do it with. Without control, you're just a "time taker." Other people are telling you how to spend your time. With control, you become a "time maker." You dictate how you're going to use your time, you choose how to allocate it. It's about allocating your time according to your values and goals. You are in control!
So, that's it: Awareness, Attention, and Control. They're the three pillars of Time Wealth. And, you know, by understanding them, you can start to build a life of abundance, a life where you're really in charge of your time. I’m still figuring it out myself, but that’s the goal, right?