Do Not Squander YOUR Time
“What would you do if someone gave you one million dollars? The first thing you would probably do is protect it. You certainly would not leave it in clear view on the front seat of your car; nor would you break it up into small bills and hand it out to everyone. Is it not ironic however, that some people protect their money and possessions, yet let their lives slip away with little thought? They do not seem to realize time is their most valuable possession. Each of us is given 1,440 minutes each day, and no one has more time than you do. Every minute is precious. Cherish it. Invest it. Use it to do more, grow more, give more, and be more…” — Nido R. Qubein
It would be awesome if all people would protect their million dollars, but the vast majority would not. Truth is, if people do not value time, they will not value money. Time is money. It isn’t that I disagree with Mr. Qubein, for in some manner all people would do their best to hide it, or keep it safe. However, I have come to know the general makeup of the normal human being is such they will squander money in the same manner they squander time. They may not set it on the front seat for all to see, but they will purchase things they have always wanted to impress those around them and in doing so have put their money on display. There is a difference in purchasing things as a goal for yourself and to build a legacy, rather than purchasing to impress others. I have many collections. I do not and have not purchased to impress anyone other myself. I follow my own personal drive and am not interested in buying to impress anyone other than perhaps my wife…and for the most part, she doesn’t care for my collections so they are not to impress her.
People will squander their money because they will try to get it to produce impossible returns on an investment after listening to someone who knows nothing of money and has no track record to prove it. Although slightly different, in the end it is the same as handing it out to those around. Sadly, in the end they will find they now have no money left and, what they have purchased is worth less than half what they paid.
If they truly valued time, they would not squander anything, especially money. They would know it was their precious time or that of someone they knew and loved that brought the money. It is in their best interest to use their time to properly grow this money, not hide it or invest it in losing propositions by listening to get rich quick schemes from those that are not rich, but enriching themselves on a lust for more that can drive anyone of us to lose it all.
It is also accurate, some do love their money more than their time. Howard Hughes was one of them. He wound up hoarding his money, but squandered his time by allowing himself to become so eccentric, so germ-a-phobic, he lived recluse and alone; while time slipped away from him, his money couldn’t save him. Time, properly used, could have kept him connected to the world in which we all live and allowed his genius and creative abilities to bless many throughout his entire life instead of reducing it to become the story of another crazy, eccentric millionaire, who no one liked and died alone.
If we learn to invest our time, not spend it frivolously, we will have a greater harvest on our time. If however, we watch too much TV, or surf the internet on things that will not produce a harvest, but will only spend our time, then we are not valuing our most precious possession. Once spent, we cannot get it back. Do your best to use it wisely.
Best of LUCK as you
Labor Under Correct Knowledge…
Respectfully,
Rick Cox