I’m certainly guilty of this myself, as I’ve made excuse after excuse about the lack of time I have in my life. But time is the greatest equalizer of all. No matter who we are, where we are in the world, or how much we strive for efficiency, there are only 24 hours in each day. Every single minute is unique, and once it’s gone, it can never be regained, unlike money. “You May Delay, But Time Will Not.” ― Benjamin Franklin So if we all have 24 hours in a day, how do we explain the success stories of young millionaires that started from nothing, or a full-time student going from beginner to conversation fluency in Spanish after just 3.5 months? They learned how to maximize for effectiveness instead of only efficiency.
While the exact numbers can be debated, the lesson is clear. The way to have more time is not to go for small wins, like watching 5-minute YouTube tutorials instead of 15-minutes, but to go for big wins, like choosing the most effective method from the beginning. Or constantly relying on free alternatives, when investing in a premium solution can shave off months, if not years, worth of struggles, mistakes, and most importantly, time. It’s making the most out of the limited time we have by focusing on solutions that deliver the most impact, and saying no to everything else.
The ability to retain more knowledge in an age of infinite access to information and countless distractions is a powerful skill to achieve any goal we have faster. By learning how to remember more information everyday, we can spend less time re-learning old knowledge, and focus on acquiring new ones. We’re all running out of time, and today is the youngest you’ll ever be. The question is: how will you best spend it?