Your Most Important Resource

MONEY, SO 1989

As a kid, I grew up believing that money was the most important resource. It seemed that everything we wanted to do relied upon money, and money was as a regular topic of discussion in my family. As I grew up, and as people were soon replaced by machines and technology, I noticed another shift -- collectively, we seemed to shift our focus from money to time. Although we still obsessed about earning more money, we anxiously chased more free time. Even then, I knew that time was far from "free".

TIME AND TIME AGAIN

I noticed that growing and earning money seemed to be infinite, but we started to zero in on our time. Time seemed to be the resourced being most taxed by our careers, family, health and fitness and more. I remember the feeling that time was speeding up and there was very little I could do about it but keep up and make the most of it.

I read a book, titled Before Happiness: The 5 Hidden Keys to Achieving Success, Spreading Happiness, and Sustaining Positive Change. I found this book while flying from Sydney to Los Angeles, and instantly became so interested in the ideas around success and happiness that I listened to it twice then bought the book. This book is a game changer if you're looking for real-world, relevant (and funny) tools to achieve your own success, happiness and positive change. One thing that stood out for me was the author's discovery that as we age, our perception of time is that it speeds up. Time, literally flies by for us and research has proven that time actually does get faster as the older we get because more things have to be pushed through the same amount of time.

Questionnaires by psychologists have shown that almost everyone – including college students – feels that time is passing faster now compared to when they were half or a quarter as old as now. And perhaps most strikingly, a number of experiments have shown that, when older people are asked to guess how long intervals of time are, or to ‘reproduce’ the length of periods of time, they guess a shorter amount than younger people.

We usually become conscious of this speeding up around our late twenties, when most of us have ‘settled down’. We have steady jobs and marriages and homes and our lives become ordered into routines – the daily routine of working, coming home, having dinner and watching TV; the weekly routine of (for example) going to the gym on Monday night, going to the cinema on Wednesday night, going for a drink with friends on Friday night etc.; and the yearly routine of birthdays, bank holidays and two weeks’ holiday in the summer. After a few years we start to realise that the time it takes us to run through these routines seems to be decreasing, as if we’re on a turntable which is picking up speed with every rotation. I cannot tell you how often I can relate to this, and as a result, I watch, closely, who and how I spend my time.

ENERGY, THE RESOURCE OF THE 21ST CENTURY

As we move into the 21st century, many things move with us -- culture, technology, people, trends, etc. The 21st century is no different, as we see the new rise to a new precious resource - energy.

I often explain that gone are the days where both money and time get center stage in the battle for number one. I now believe that 1st place goes unequivocally to energy.

Let's face it, we are tired these days. We are still chasing money at supersonic speeds, but now we are doing it with less energy. Have you ever given yourself an hour to do something but were left feeling so drained you couldn't focus? I blame increased demands for our attention and focus from things like social media and nonstop marketing from every angle you look. In addition, we are constantly under the pressure to produce on all channels now from real life to screen reality. It never ends. So how does one prioritize their resources?

BACK AND TO THE BEGINNING

You work backwards, if you ask me. These days, I focus on whatever yields me more energy. Just about everything I do asks the question, "how do I do this with more energy?". As a result, I prioritize things that used to seem unimportant to me as my absolute musts. Below are my Top 6 To Increased Energy. See which ones you can start to make a priority to "earn" you more time and more money:

1. Sleep - make sure it's deep sleep

2. Nutrition - I eat and consume as much greens as possible

3. Exercise -- Anytime I need more energy, I go to the gym. It's that simple.

4. Water -- If I am tired, I know I am likely dehydrated

5. Meditation -- Just 10 minutes a day will give you more energy

6. Journaling -- No surprise here, but when I need more energy, I sit down and take the time to write it out. Voila!

These things are now my top priority because I now believe that with more energy I will enjoy my time. And as I enjoy my time, I will start to enjoy the results of more money. In the end, it's all about enjoying as much as possible while we have the money, time and the energy to do so.

Now, #goDo!