“Not enough time”

When is the last time you said that?  Yesterday? Maybe even today.  We definitely live in a culture of distraction, consumption and crazy good Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, and YouTube Premium. 

where should I invest my time?  

Time is one of the few things you cannot buy, so this question about time seems to apply to most everyone:

• Business school students with a gap between school and their internships
• Mid-level corporate career types who are ready to ride the next career S-curve
• Recent retired folks, thinking about what they’d like to spend their next 10 years getting great at  

1) Things that grow in value

Sure, think of your time like a 401K retirement account.  Invest in things that are accretive. Over time, solid growth stocks are better than cash. On the flip side, let’s not pour time into things that go nowhere.

2) Things that are unique to you

Don’t be average. If it’s available for sale on Amazon, or can be looked up by your 13 year-old nephew on Google, it’s not something that gives you a competitive advantage. Don’t be average. Average is boring, low-margin, undifferentiated, and frankly, un-fun. Playing to win = playing more of your own game.

Using financial GMAT speak, if you want alpha (beating the averages), then you need to be different.

3) Things that challenge you

Push yourself. (Yes, this is advice for myself too). It’s easy to “coast” in your career once you get good at something. Problem: the markets are competitive, and clients are savvy. They don’t want to eat the same thing you “cooked” last year, for 5 other clients. They want value, and value = a better version of yourself. 

If we – consultants (or anyone in professional services) – are the product, then what are we doing to improve the product? Are we faster, more organized, more cross-functional, more scalable, easier to work with, more predictive, and more fun to work with? Have you improved your craft?

4) Things that give you flow

What kind of problems do you like to work on? What do your friends and colleagues say you are naturally good at? If you got paid $250K a year to do X. . .what would that be? What would you like to get so good at (over the next 5 years) that people would drive across town and pay you money to speak about? Yes, Stephen Covey stuff, I know.

 5) Things that work together

Perhaps this is a luxury, but if possible try to get 2-for-1 deals in your life.  Can you invest time in things that grow in value, give you flow, are unique to you, AND challenge you? If so, winning.

Invest in People, experiences, assets, writing

All of these get more valuable over time. In the age of immediacy and instant access, your relationships, memories, passive income, and point of view will be unique to you. You can’t Google these online.  Your can’t “subscribe and save” them from Amazon. 

Invest in people

After all, what else is there? We all want to make an impact, leave a legacy, leave the place better than we found it. Isn’t it all about relationships – professional opportunities, a sense of community, a workshop for your gifts. 

Which people? Your spouse, your parents, your kids, your work colleagues, your friends, your neighbors. You determine how big your metaphorical cup is, but it might look like this. Expand your kingdom as broadly as you can to influence, support, and love on more people. (yes, Mom, that sounds like Prayer for Jabez, I know) 

Invest in your family, relatives, friends. Send them a book. Spend time with them. Find ways to help them articulate their dreams, encourage them, and help them. Push yourself to help others. . except don’t loan money. As Dave Ramsey warns, “once you loan money to family, Thanksgiving dinner starts tasting differently.” Better to just give the money vs. loaning it.

Invest in experiences

First of all, why not? YOLO. Life is too short to sit in one place, doing the same thing, not branching out. This is my favorite quote from Teddy Roosevelt – US President, rough-rider, trust-buster, nature lover, and bad ass.

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

What new experiences are you learning from? Are you getting smarter and wiser. Are you innovating and making the right kind of mistakes? As Seth Godin prods us, “We are always becoming, and we can always make the choice to start becoming something else, if we care.” The only way you become a more interesting person is to have something to talk about – ideas, experience, advice. Would you pass the airport test?

Invest in assets

This is a big one. I know too many people who make $$$,$$$ on their income statement, but don’t take the right steps to save, and put that money in assets (dividend paying stocks, rental properties or cash-flowing businesses). Are you getting retired? You have to own assets without liabilities. In non-accounting talk, you need be an owner of something – not just a worker. Financial freedom is about the balance sheet (not income statement). 

Grandpa advice alert: Consume less (buy less stuff) and invest more (in assets that make money for you). As Dave Ramsey often says, “We buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like”

Invest in writing 

This was a surprising one for me (hat tip: KRL). Have enjoyed writing this blog enormously; it hones my thinking and catalogs my thoughts. If anything, I urge you to start putting your thoughts on paper, putting it online, finding your voice. It’s fun, evergreen, and helps you grow. Most important, it creates a community – a tribe – of like minded people like you (readers) to talk to and learn from.

Note, your portfolio can take many forms: photographs, podcasts, songs, art, infographics, data visualization, Roblox games.  You decide. Main thing. . .as Seth Godin says, “artists ship”.  Want to get a little motivated, read these quotes from Vince Lombardi.

 Related posts: 

• Direction, leadership, and trust
• Consulting formula: think + write + communicate + revise
• Links