Your time is worth more than you think

[Chinese Dragon]

Some of you are probably sitting there thinking that Personal Development hasn't done much for you. Think about it: How much progress have we really made? Let's face it: Personal Development isn't a quick fix. It takes time. Lots of time.

In fact, it take too much time. If you've been seeing very little results even if you've been trying very hard to improve your life for months or years, you're not alone. It probably feels like all the effort you've put out isn't worth it. You might feel like your time apparently isn't worth very much to the world, so why bother?

But quitting it the absolute worst and dumbest thing you can do to yourself.

Why?

Here's a quick example. Let's say you're Bill Gates for a moment. In one year Gates can provide more value to people than the average person does in a lifetime. His time is very valuable.

Now let's consider the average person. They go to work, they do their job, and they come home. They're contributing a constant (and relatively very small) amount value to the world. Their time is not very valuable.

If you feel you're like the person who's time isn't valuable as long as you're stuck in a position where you're not growing very fast, you'd be surprised to know that it doesn't matter at all. Here's why:

If Bill Gates looked at the progress he made the first year of Microsoft and said it wasn't worth it (and it probably wasn't at the time), we wouldn't have so many fun computer games and programs to play with. If Gates had delayed starting Microsoft by only one year, then all the software Microsoft makes would be perpetually one year behind. It wouldn't have looked like much in the early days, but in the 20th century, it's just as bad as Microsoft being put on pause for a full year.

This means that even if your life is spiraling out of control and it will take many years to reach a comfortable state of living, your time is worth very much because the sooner you get started; the sooner you'll have the life you desire. Your future self will thank you for getting started today instead of next year, what will you do with that extra year now that you have a great body, the relationship of your dreams, and financial independence?

It works this way because like many phenomena (many which are related to Personal Development itself), Personal Development increases your quality of life with exponential growth. The more self-discipline you have, the more in shape you are, the more traffic your website has, and the hotter/cooler your girlfriend/boyfriend is, the faster you'll be able to achieve your goals. Follow the link and scroll down until you see a graph with a red line on the 6 month mark. (And I strongly recommend you read the entire thing) What would you say to someone who is on the road to success but drops out after 6 months because they don't see enough results? If you look at it mathematically, delaying getting started by six months is identical to stopping for six months after you've had great success. Procrastinating on Personal Development isn't going to make the hump any easier to get through, it's wasting time for what you could be doing after you are living the life of your dreams.

As a personal example, I’m a minor and have been working on my dream of being a video game developer, doing all this stuff to get there won’t have a very noticeable effect on my life until many years later when I’m good enough and old enough to start a business. It takes me months to do things the professionals can do in days, and I don’t do it remotely as good, but putting it off isn’t going to make the practice period any shorter or easier, so I might as well start now.

Your results are only going to increase by the laws of exponential growth, so the important thing is to stop wasting time and get started today. It’s not like you’ve got something better to do. Don't go checking your email or play remakes of old games you've beaten 100 times because you're bored, get out and start working on your Personal Development. I promise you, if you fully embrace the journey, decide to fight your way through over the hump of hard work and no results, the rest of the ride is very smooth and very enjoyable. And you will never be bored.

Your time is worth very much, my friend.

[bradb]

I thought I already had a pretty solid understanding of the value of my time. Writing a book, running a company, and keeping up with my social life means I already put a pretty high price on my time.

But I never quite thought of it from the viewpoint that taking a year off now would be like taking a year off at the height of my success. It could actually be much worse than that, because of the opportunity cost of being late to the party, and the opportunity cost you may inflict on others by not having your product (or whatever other contribution you're trying to make to the world) available to them earlier.

Very insightful. Nice post.

[CeciL]

Wow for being a minor you have a pretty good head on your shoulders. I bet in the near future I will be playing a best seller that you had something to do with... I see you going places, my friend

[realignedliving]

Wow, interesting point. I never thought about wasting time and procrastinating quite in that same way before! It certainly got me thinking.

[finandom]

What a insipiring article! Chinese Dragon.

My dream is becoming financial free. The more I delay, the less time I can enjoy the day of being financial free. Oh My God! I think I better work harder and take more action.....

Now everyone of us know the price of "procastination".

[Ilya]

Yes, I've met this thought in a personal finance book where they showed how it will cost you a fortune in the last years of a long-time investment, if you start later. It really motivated me.

But the other side of the coin is the time depreciation.
It is like the financial idea that tomorrow dollar is less valuable then today dollar.
Tomorrow is also somewhat less valuable then today.

Simply due to the fact that tomorrow might never come. And it is valuable to do as much as possible today. Of course you can't do everything you want today. So we have to prioritize. And it might turn out that starting the long lasting project is not necessary the best thing to do today.
Yes, it will cost you more on the other end, but some things are only happening once. If your child is born spending time with him in the first years of his life may be more valuable then wealth that he can inherit from you 60 years later.
So starting early is the best for easy stuff, that do not take a lot of time from you - saving and passive investing, exercising for health, learning.
High-intensity activities will need careful thoughts.
To me "the now" is very valuable. In general I think that the more a person is at peace with himself, the more valuable "the now" becomes for such person.
At the ultimate level of happiness "the now" would be more valuable then any benefits that can come out of the other end of decades of business development.

But I'm still on my way to such level of consciousness.

[theknightwhosaysni-NI]

Great post chinese dragon. It's a very good perspective to get motivated and get busy. Thank you

[Chinese Dragon]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Originally Posted by Ilya

And it might turn out that starting the long lasting project is not necessary the best thing to do today.
Yes, it will cost you more on the other end, but some things are only happening once. If your child is born spending time with him in the first years of his life may be more valuable then wealth that he can inherit from you 60 years later.

Yes I agree and while it's important to work on long lasting projects it's almost never a good idea to spend ALL your free time working on them. There's little point in completing projects if you can't enjoy the results.

[carenkh]

I know this isn't *exactly* what you're saying ,but I'm reminded of a friend who was contemplating going back to school to get a degree to teach. He was wavering, because he was 38 at the time, and he kept saying, "I'll be 41 when I graduate!" (He was working full-time) He finally made the leap when a friend said, "In three years, you'll be 41 no matter what. Either you can be 41 in exactly the same place you're in now, or you can be 41 with an education degree." I've thought of that conversation again and again.

[Ilya]

great example carenkh.
That is a little bit different from what Chinese Dragon wrote about, but still great.
I have some regrets of this kind now. "If I went for it back then I would have finished it by now". Works great for the projects that take several months or under, say 5 years and can be finished (unlike business or investing).

[Iff]

Thank you, Chinese Dragon, your post seems to be the hit on the head I needed (and thanks to Ilya for rephrasing the point to be seen from another angle). There is only one thing we have "no time" for, it's sitting around and postponing working on our goals almost indefinitely. Time to get moving!

[Amit_S]

wow! Chinese Dragon- thank you for this!
carenkh : Thanx for this!