This morning, while sipping my delicious coffee made from fresh ground beans, the topic of time as a finite asset just kept swirling around in my head. I'm 55 and semi-retired. I spend my time working in my garden, exercising, fixing up around the house and composing what I hope are useful and engaging articles here on Steemit. Every once in a while, I'll think to myself, 'What if I can go back in time and what would I do differently?'. Maybe you've have such thoughts as well.
Unfortunately, we can never go back in time and start over, per say. We can only use up what time we have left going forward. Once our time is used up, it's gone forever. So now, the term 'What if I can go back in time' then becomes, 'If I can go forward in time, what can I do differently?'.
Just like we have only one chance to make a good first impression, we only have once chance to use up the time we have right now and right now, you're spending your valuable time reading this article. You're likely reading this because you want to learn something from it, converting your time spent into knowledge that you can keep with you always. What you're doing right now is time well spent.
Last November, I decided to make plans for retirement. Most people I knew were shocked and surprised. I became so stressed with the work load, starting my shift at 5:45 am and the forced wearing of a mask all shift long, even though masks don't work and actually deprives the brain of oxygen which can lead to Alzheimer's like symptoms. My time is my most valuable asset and I decided I didn't want to spend most of my waking hours inside a manufacturing facility.
Everyone's situation is different. Of course, not everyone can just quit like I did. I saved and saved for 15 years before I could make this move. Personally, I don't believe in retirement. I believe we should keep working till our dying day, if able to. It's the type of work you do that makes the difference. I'm still working but I work in my garden and around the house. It keeps me so busy that I wonder how I managed before when I was working full-time.
The last year and a half has literally flipped the employment world upside down. Workers were sent home to do their work remotely. Employers thought this was going to be temporary but after all this time has passed, it's quite clear that these workers don't want to return to the office. I don't blame them for not wanting to waste, in some cases up to 2 hours of their precious time every day commuting to and from work. That's 2 hours a day you could dedicate to family, leisure or simply fixing that leaky faucet (or actually enjoying your morning coffee). There seems to be an awakening happening where more and more people are realizing that their personal time is finite and want to enjoy the time they have left.
I've stated before that time is your most valuable asset and I will keep pushing to remind this to as many good people as I can. Bitcoin creation is finite as it is fixed at 21 million coins which makes it so valuable. Once all 21 million have been mined, there won't be any more, unless it becomes fractional, like a dollar can be divided into 100 pennies, 10 dimes, 4 quarters, etc.. This is what makes Bitcoin so valuable and sought after.
As your personal time is finite and will run out completely sooner or later, how do you place a price / value on your time. For most of us, our time is converted into labor for which we are then paid. You should strive to find the best paying job possible. I've had a dozen different employers over the years and never felt bad when I quit to find better pastures. They never feel bad when they lay people off without notice so don't feel bad about moving on. It's YOUR time, not theirs.
It's your time and it belongs to you and no one else. It is so valuable that how you spend it can determine whether you live in poverty or not, whether you are happy or not and also, whether you are healthy or not. This reminds me of a position I had between 2009 /2014. I was working 10.5 hour shifts on afternoons and could not properly exercise during the week. During this time, I experienced what I thought was bloating but as I soon figured out, was actually weight gain from lack of exercise. I went from 140 pounds to 167 pounds over this period of time. I had never gained weight like that before. It made me realize that I needed to make a change. Fortunately, an internal position on the day shift came up in 2014 and I was successful in landing this job, thank goodness. Now I'm back to 140 lbs and I feel great.
Ask yourself, 'How valuable is my time?'. The answer is really quite simple. It's worth whatever value You decide to place on it. Do you really want to earn McMinimum wage all your life? Do you want to be happy or sad? Rich or poor? Healthy or sick? How you choose to spend your time can make or break everything.
I often plan for the future. I've saved and diversified my savings and every autumn, I stock up on goods to prepare for Canada's long and harsh winters. I like to think that doing things like this with my time is time well spent.
I often read articles on gardening so that I can master growing my own food. I believe this is my time well spent.
I fixed the side of my shed last week because of water damage. That was time well spent.
Last month, I spent time at the beach with friends and caught up on time lost because of all the needless lockdowns. That was time well spent.
I visited my Brother Charlie a couple of weekends ago. We hadn't seen each other since Father's Day, last year, again because of these useless lockdowns. That was time well spent.
I took the time to learn a bit about Theta tokens and Theta fuel recently. It made me realize it was time to diversify a tiny amount of what little wealth I have into cryptos and purchased 100 Theta tokens and 1,200 Tron tokens. I believe my time was well spent.
There's a famous saying... time is money! Remember that... time = money. Money comes in all shapes and forms. Shells, beads, silver and gold coins, printed dollars, digits in your bank account, cryptos and your labor / hard work have all been used as money.
It's time to think of your time in the same manner. It is your most valuable asset and you can place whatever value you like on it because it belongs to you and no one else can lay claim to it but you. You own the keys to your time.
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