The Most Valuable Asset You Don’t Own

Hey there! 👋

A while ago, I updated my profile on Instagram to include a quote by Mark Cuban which really resonated with me.

“The most valuable asset you can never own is your time”

This is a mindset that I always implore my mentees to make, as I believe it’s one of the biggest strengths of a person if they understand how money could be used to get more things done within a shorter period of time. To first understand what I mean, you first need to understand that you can always make more money, but you can't buy more time. 

PEOPLE TRADE MONEY FOR TIME DIFFERENTLY
If you’re someone who’s just started working, how do you use money? Depending on your family circumstances, you could possibly buy that PS5 that you have been saving up for, or perhaps indulge in that luxury bag that you’ve been eyeing for a while, or maybe help your family with bill payments. It all depends on your situation. You might even spend it all on books to level up in your workplace faster.

If you’re someone who’s been working for a while now and you live quite comfortably, the things that you use money to buy time could differ from someone who just started working. For example, you would take an Uber or Grab (depending on where you are) instead of a train because you can now afford to directly trade your time with money. You literally save time to get to where you need to faster. You could hire someone to clean your home for you if it means that it frees up your time to earn more money or get more things done.

Mark Cuban bought a plane to save time. "It means I have more hours in my day to spend with friends and family," he explained to the Wall Street Journal in 2010. "It means I can get more work done. It means I can travel comfortably with my family. It’s a life- and game-changer."

LET’S GET YOU SORTED OUT FINANCIALLY FIRST
I love this book by Ramit Sethi - I Will Teach You to Be Rich.

This book is unlike others—it teaches you exactly how to spend on the things you love and cut back excessively on the things you don’t care about. The main theme of this book is all about living your Rich Life—which will mean different things for different people. And then, create systems to help you manage your money better.

I feel that once you are able to understand what your rich life is, you would be able to work out your professional goals better. So I would definitely recommend for you to read this. Let me know what you think?

USE YOUR TIME BETTER
Now back to you. If you’re someone who has just started working, or even someone who is in mid level position. Level up in your professional work, so you can leverage money:

• Buy books and read them; and read more. Keep learning.

• No plane? Sure, use your commute time to office to read those books.

• Use the time that you would have to watch Netflix or a movie to read more books or take courses.

If you have read more than your peers within 3 months and applied them to your work, how much do you think you have sped up your learning by, and contributing that value to your company?

MENTOR’S THOUGHTS
If I’m allowed to get a little sappy here. I find that the only thing we truly own are moments in time. Those memories we make. Those decisions that we make—whether or not it’s made in a split second, or whether we wrecked our heads thinking of a way to solve a problem, or even just enjoying time with someone we love, it’s those things that we carry with us through our lives. Like I said above, we can always make more money, and we can’t buy more time, so don’t forget to tell the people you love how much you love them. Work is important, but so are your loved ones. And if you haven’t told them how much you love them lately. Do that now.

I GAVE MY TIME TO WRITE THIS FOR YOU
If you've found this useful, it's likely that someone in your network, such as a friend, colleague, or acquaintance, could benefit from this as well. Add value to your network just by sharing it with one person in your network who might need it.

Best Regards,
Carlsson