Time – THE most important asset

**Updated for 2023**

Our greatest asset is time; our entire world revolves around it and our lives are lived according to it. It just happens to be our most worthy enemy too. In time (you see what I did there?) I hope to drive home the very point of just how important our time is and what it means to use it wisely.

When you think about it, our time is the most worthy thing we have available. We cannot get it back and it’s a powerful tool.

Under pretense, I am writing this article when most of my children are young. As of this writing, my oldest turned 23 but my oldest daughter is 11, my youngest daughter is 8 1/2, and my youngest son is 6 years old. Though it has been years the time has sped past me as if it were mere days. If you have the capability to not just hear older people but truly listen to them, you have no doubt heard how the older you get, the faster time flies by. I have some theories as to why this is but for now, suffice it to say there are numerous things we can look back on and recall with fond memories – each made with small pieces of us and our irreplaceable time.

Time is merciless, waits for no one, and treats everyone the same

So why do I say time is our greatest asset?

For several reasons, really. For starters, if we do not have or make time for something it will never get done – it starts and consequently ends with time. It’s the beginning and end – time (at least in this time-bound world). We cannot get away from it; we live by it. Since we live by time and have a limited amount in the day, we have to decide what to do with it – and those decisions, seemingly small ones can and often do have major implications.

Second, what I do with my time says A LOT about me as a person, man, husband, father, ironworker, citizen, member, etc. We can look at what a person chooses and conclude their likes, desires, comforts, needs, etc., to a relatively accurate degree.

Third, what time I do have, when it is spent, I cannot recover nor get it back. Therefore when I do give my time it is precious and I should treat it as such. If I give money away, I can make more. Any worldly good I part with I can always get more of (in most cases, anyhow). I can always acquire other cars, houses, jobs, careers, etc. but when I have spent/given my time, I cannot recover it. Sure, there is time ahead of me but I am not guaranteed it and I cannot go back and gather that which was lost. Here’s a caveat: you have to have time to pursue, acquire, gather, gain, work for, work towards, etc. ANY and ALL of the other things people place value on. Time comes first and when it’s up, it’s up.

Time – the great commodity 

It should come as no surprise then when I say time is our greatest commodity and asset. Yet, for all we are worth, we continually waste it. It is undervalued, often forgotten, and utterly forsaken for so very many unworthy things. Yet we plug along, inescapably bound by it and most of us do not even consider the time we have – and waste.

It’s interesting that the closer we get to running out of time the more we reflect on its importance. When you are younger, you do not think about time at all – except that it goes by slowly. We are always in a hurry to grow up, increase our freedom, and gain more privileges and largely time is our enemy. We wish it away despite whatever warning our elders gave us: “Don’t be in a hurry to grow up,” or “Don’t wish your life away,” or how about “You will be older before you know it.” All of us who have reached middle age can attest to those warnings and state they are true; senior citizens have said as much for many years now.

I believe this is so because we look back as the years wane and with more years behind us than in front of us we cherish it (time) more than we originally did. And here’s the rub: time is the enemy of the youngster as well as the senior citizen. Whereas the clock holds back the youth it simultaneously stalks the senior; its ever presence signifies the end at some not-too-distant point. And it is in those moments we especially reflect on the minutes past and those ahead; memories become a haven and retreat for us.

The milestone theory

Milestones – that which we have less of when we get older

Earlier I said I had a theory or two about why time seems to fly by as we get older. I mention it briefly here, but you can read the full article on The Milestone Theory for more information. What happens though is that when we are younger, we have tons of milestones ahead of us. Let’s list some of them to mull over:

• learning to walk and talk
• starting school
• reaching double digits
• middle school ( I equate middle school to a zoo)
• high school
• sweet sixteen (if you are a girl – they care about this)
• driving (and for some reason this is becoming less important to this generation – VERY strange to me)
• prom
• job
• graduation
• eighteen (finally an adult – ha! Yeah right)
• College (for SOME – see my post on college and whether it is worth it – for most it isn’t)
• somewhere in here are serious relationships
• marriage
• careers
• children

The above isn’t exhaustive nor is it meant to be; rather, merely glancing over it should make you reminisce about the milestones when you were younger. You went from one milestone to another, high off of life and success in reaching those milestones without much consideration to time. You believed you were indestructible and acted accordingly. Each milestone brought with it another to achieve, conquer, and demonstrate your youthful arrogance (admit it – we all were and I suspect some of us still are).

But something happened. Something that, for most of us, brought about great joy and at the same time a setback: children. It isn’t a coincidence I placed them last on the list above.

Now before I’m lynched let me explain: I have four children myself and while they are a tremendous joy they are also little energy vampires. Theirs is the uncanny ability to suck energy right out of you and all the while you’re reeling from exhaustion and cannot figure out what’s happening – an energy bar doesn’t help here, I might add.

Children – the time reminder for many of us

Ah, children! One of the greatest gifts we have – and a reminder of how fast time goes by

*Caveat*

I have taken my position on children being the fulcrum if you will regarding our switch on viewing/experiencing time. That is, it is usually the event where we can look back and realize we had reached the majority of major milestones and now are on cruise control. This is true for the vast majority of the population. After all, statistically speaking the majority of Americans are procreating.

But what of those who are childless for whatever reason(s)? Do they not view time the same way those of us who have children do?

I think they do. While I had not spent a great deal of time thinking about this I can actively recall the many conversations of old acquaintances who chose not to have children and they had the same thoughts regarding time: The older you get, the faster it flies by. I, after contemplating it for some time, conclude the distraction of children masks the reality of time passing by quicker than we would like. We are so absorbed in our everyday, mundane lives (remember, this is without energy because children = energy vampires) we realize one day suddenly time has just FLOWN by. Often it is some milestone we either didn’t think about or possibly it’s seeing our children growing up SO FAST but BOOM: there it is. Just because we view the time prism from a different perspective (read: our children growing up TOO FAST) doesn’t mean those without do not experience time the same way; indeed, it should only reinforce the fact time does hit the gas pedal whether we like it or not no matter who you are, what you do, or what you think. Time does not discriminate; it screws all equally.

Furthermore, having children in many ways complicates this issue. You’re on autopilot with kids and time ticks by until you wake up one day and realize your children are growing up too fast…which can and often does cause people to reflect on their own time clock. Parents then begin to live vicariously through their children hiding their despair.

Single people, however, are in many ways made more aware of their time slipping by. There are no children to live through and milestones become less frequent resulting in searches for time occupancy. These range from comical to sad and everything in between and the end result is the same: poor attempts to cover the loss of time. We all deal have to deal with time loss, in the end, parents or not.

*End Caveat*

When I look at my kids, I am reminded of just how fast time flies by. Indeed, The speed at which time flies by me as I get older is absolutely amazing. It seems just the other day I was bringing my oldest daughter home from the hospital and as of this writing she is 11; my oldest son is 23, and I am overwhelmed by how fast this all goes. This, then, is the mindset when I began this post.

Time = wealth

When you have time, you have wealth

If you have time you have wealth, simply put. In fact, I’ll wager something ever seemingly preposterous: If you have time, and it’s been invested properly, it is the GREATEST WEALTH YOU CAN HAVE. Think about it while you read further. If you have invested the time you have properly, you have A LOT of material to draw on when in those golden years. There needs to be something to sustain you when troubles come, the monotony of life takes hold, and that’s when you draw upon the memories of wonderful times past. Those precious memories of children running around, their laughter filling the air, and the smiles on their faces are what can guide you through those teenage years. Perhaps for you, children were not an option and so you recall the time you invested in friends and family. What about the time spent achieving goals? The time you spent getting to know people, or the time on favorite hobbies, the time that you satisfactorily completed a project, or even the time you spent merely resting. Whatever the memories happen to be, it is safe to say they reinforce the principle at hand: time is vitally important.

The reason I started writing this post is simple: I often reflect on time, its irreplaceability, and my own life. Nowhere is this driven home more than my children.

I can look back over the years and see the projects accomplished, whether work or personal, and I get great memories from them. I can also recall the funny times at work or elsewhere and I get a chuckle. I can even think about those times when I have achieved something major with a sense of satisfaction. None of these, however, for me (and I suspect for most of us), are anywhere as close nor as fulfilling as those regarding my children.

You see, there is so much time invested in children yet most of it is arbitrary that we miss A LOT. I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER, met a person who said they wished they had spent less time with their children or they had spent enough time with them. EVERYONE, however, wishes they had more time with their children. I know of quite a few people who have been intentional about spending time with their kids and if they had it to do again, they would have doubled their time. THAT. IS. PROFOUND. Sure, their professional accomplishments amount to something for them but in the end, on their deathbed, ALL desire MORE TIME WITH LOVED ONES. As far as I know, there is no exception to this: all fit this mold.

So much wasted time

We all have wasted time that we cannot get back

It is the above I have tried to keep in mind when passing through my daily routine. I try to keep in mind my children will not be young forever and I should capitalize on their age/size/desire to spend time with me now. This is not easy, however, because I am a selfish person who wants what I want and life can be messy. Nevertheless, wise is the man who learns from others…and I seek to learn from those wishing to spend more time doing something else. I am reminded of the last words of David Cassidy:

“SO MUCH WASTED TIME.”

(Look it up – it’s everywhere online)

I am terrified of this. Don’t get me wrong: I can spend a massive amount of time with my children and still feel this way – many do in fact. Realistically, however, I am talking about the time(s) where the clock is not on the mind and we merely coast through – with no thought of what we could have done – until it is too late. I want to be the mindful one to constantly reflect on the time that I have and adjust accordingly. This doesn’t mean I don’t fall short; indeed, I often do. Rather, I want to learn from my mistakes and learn from the mistakes of others even more so.

On the job site, many guys can recall their favorite sports teams stats, major accomplishments (work and personal), they can remember and reminisce about their favorite nights out but cannot tell you what their kids dream about or can’t recall the last time they had some meaningful conversation with them. There are so many children who deeply desire time with their parents and too often we are busy building and maintaining a life we do not stop to remember they are only little once. I distinctly remember an older gentleman lamenting in an advice column some time ago that when his kids were little, he was traveling, building, and providing for them (read: building a career) so time with his kids was scarce. Now that he was older, more established, and had more time to spend his adult children were out of time to spend with him now; they were busy trying to build lives of their own. The cycle continues and another generation is robbed of quality time with the loved ones they so desperately need and desire. His lament was my warning and one I wish to heed well.

Time is precious

When time is up, it’s up – it is the most precious commodity we have

So why am I writing all of this? What’s the point? Having filed this under The Wealth Series, I have in mind to assert to any and all there is much more to wealth than money. With this piece I want you to think about the wealth medium which is time and just how important it is – for I believe it is the most precious commodity we possess. You may not have a large house or a lot of money in the bank but how you spend your time speaks volumes and can demonstrate to a great number of people what wealth you do possess.

I suppose I am writing this from a kid-centered spectrum and while I have approached this topic in such a way it doesn’t mean it is merely limited to just kids. How many of us wish we had just one more day with a loved one who has passed away? Or when a close family member moves away and we wish they lived closer? How about a certain time in our lives we recall fondly and wish we could have more time in that memory? What about that string of victories that pumped us up and caused us to focus on achieving goals? Let us not underestimate the periods of time we invest in merely resting – it is a vital component of success and fulfillment.

Now contrast the above with coming home and plopping on the sofa day after day and vegging out in front of the TV. The hours pass us by as we are literally sitting still – and in the words of David Cassidy, “SO MUCH WASTED TIME.” Our children are growing up around us, opportunities are passing us, our loved ones are growing older, and life is leaving us behind.

All in all, I think one of the worst things we can do with our time is to merely waste it. I won’t get into details about the many ways this is done on a daily basis but I think we can all agree we waste so much time, all the while life passes us by.

Initially, I wasn’t going to do much research about this topic and merely write from my personal experience. It wasn’t until I got this far I started to rethink my decision. I wondered what, if any, correlation there was concerning people, happiness, and what they spent their time on. This link here illustrates there is indeed a connection:

Essentially, those who spent their time socializing (with loved ones) experienced happiness – and the more time they spent, the happier they reported being. How we invest our time matters and not just to us. This thought brings out another worthy point regarding time:

Time investment can last beyond our own lives, for good and bad.

If time is invested well, it can have positive ramifications for years and even generations to come. Parents who have invested time into their children have the best chance of seeing their children grow up to become productive citizens and repeating the process with their children in turn. Generational investing, as it were. I personally know people who have invested their time wisely and the reward was phenomenal. I also know people who have squandered their time and the regret is lifelong – and sometimes passes from parent to child.

Why do we squander time?

We all know – and experience – wasting time is a waste. Why do we do it?

Recall earlier I wrote about people and the milestones they encounter during their life. Once a person reaches adulthood, the milestones become fewer and fewer until they find themselves merely coasting day by day. When someone finds themselves in this stage time flies by and the older they get, the faster it goes. The old adage is adept here: “The days are long but the years are short.”

The days are long, indeed. We get up, go to work, get home, spend a little time if we’re lucky doing something we want to, eat, shower, and go to bed – all to get up the next day and repeat the cycle. This we do while we are tired, barely holding ourselves together. Day by day passes, the years fly by, and we realize all too well the days are long but the years are short.

This lack of milestones enables us to sort of check out and mull through the days until they become years, all while tired, life draining the energy from you and being on autopilot leads to copious amounts of time wasted. It’s just that simple. We must be deliberate in valuing our time, investing it wisely, and striving to remember it is our most precious commodity.

I do not have all the answers, but I hope I have given you something to think about regarding time. It is a priceless gift and all too often we spend it frivolously. Let us take a collective moment, think about what it is that is most important to us, and spend time intentionally focused on that. When we are on our deathbed, out of time and reflecting on that which is most important, I dare say we would like to be surrounded by our loved ones who we have invested this most precious resource in. The accolades of a career, the pleasures of life, the acquisition of material goods, the time spent pursuing goals will all pale in comparison when time is up; those things will not be worth anything then.

If you have plenty of time left (we can’t know but we assume) then take heed and invest wisely. If you have more years behind you than in front of you, be that old-timer warning others of wasted time. Yes, it might seem as if no one is listening but continue on because you never know whose attention you might grab – and change their destiny. It is never too late, then, to make a change. Whether you learn from other people or are the person others learn from, even that time is valuable and not wasted if someone can correct course.

Indeed, time is the most valuable asset we have. Let’s use it to the best of our ability.