This is probably one of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn – I still catch myself doing it today – wasting time.
“The rich invest in time, the poor invest in money.” -Warren Buffett
I love this quote.
It’s something that 99% of people can’t seem to quit.
There is some reason, deep down inside most people… some reason that we just can’t stop wasting time!
Whether it’s video games, watching TV, working at a 9-5 job or just drinking beer.
There is something about monotony, routine, and predictability that humans just can’t seem to avoid.
This is most apparent in the way people work. What job we choose and what tasks we think we are good at. Usually, people choose to do tasks themselves instead of outsourcing and scaling to reach their final goal.
I learned this the hard way… but fortunately I realized what I was doing…
I started a business several years ago that did brushfire consulting in a high-end area of Southern California. Because I was a firefighter at the time, I thought it would be a great idea to use my knowledge to help people prepare their homes.
One of the services I provided was brush clearance… which is a super shitty task. It basically consists of hiking up and down a steep hill, while swinging a loud gas powered weed whacker back and forth.
Plus you’re hiking through poison oak, thorny bushes and there are tons of rattlesnakes. And it’s hotter than the surface of the sun.
So… here I am the owner of this company weed whacking the side of a hill that is the size of 20 football fields…
GENIUS USE OF TIME… NOT!
I remember specifically standing on that hill, sweat running down my face, with pieces of brush and dirt plastered into the pores of my cheeks.
“What the hell am I doing?” I thought… “I should be paying someone else to do this, while I go out and find more clients.”
Long story short, I scaled the business a little bit bigger and then sold it off and made a little bit of money.
While it was not my best business venture, it taught me how important it is to value my time.
Time is the one thing that we all have the same of. You can’t make more time, buy more time, or find more time.
You can, however, be more efficient with your time.
