money

They say that, “time is money.” You’ve heard that expression probably a few times in your life.

Why is time, money?

In the business world, time COSTS money because it takes money to pay for the time it takes to produces goods and services.

But, I want you to think about time and money in a different context.

In algebra, you may remember the expressions, x = y. In this example,”x” is time and “y” is money. If time EQUALS money, money also EQUALS time.

And this is true (in a certain context). Let’s say you have all the money you’ll ever need to live well for the rest of your life. You no longer need to work to produce money in order to buy goods and services. What this money really buys you is the TIME to live your life the way you want to live it.

Although time is a constant and we all only get so much of it, having money allows for more choices in how you spend it. When you work for money, you are trading time and talent for dollars.

It would be a shame if you didn’t use some of those dollars to buy your time back.

“Horologia Ferrea,” (Invention of Clockwork), 1590, Jan van der Straet

When I use the word, “currency,” I believe most people will think of the word, “money,” these piece of paper (cloth) that we use as a medium of exchange.

Money is a funny and interesting thing. The money we use today is a representation of energy, or, the energy we expended to get the money. If someone works for $10 an hour and works for two hours, they end up with $20 (minus taxes of course), which represents the energy they expended.

Most of the energy from earth comes from the sun through the photosynthesis cycle of creation. Plants feed the animal, animals and plants feed humans, humans expend energy to create goods and services, and the wheel goes round and round. So, in essence, money represents energy you have used in order to capture the energy of others through goods and services.

We value money because we have a universal belief that it has value (which is the topic for a future post on the fiat system).

But, this is not the currency I really want to discuss with you. The currency I want to discuss is the unique currency you possess as an individual.

You earn currency with others by being genuine, hard-working, ethical, loyal, and having unimpeachable integrity.

This currency is extremely valuable. You’ve probably heard it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. This is a saying because there is some truth in it.

If people know you are a person of high character, opportunities will find you more often. I hear the same thing over and over from business owners, “I can never find reliable help.” This is an invitation for you to be that person that others can rely on. That is valuable currency.