When I was in my teens I used to hear the expression “Time is Money.” It was usually heard in close proximity to, “Get back to work!”
For a long time I interpreted the saying as something like, “I’m paying you to work, please honour your part of the contract.” That made perfect sense to me. It wasn’t until years later (when I was a better employee) that I had a rethink about it.
The winter was cold and dark and business was slow. I thought, “I need a vacation. All my bills are caught up. I’ve got a few dollars in the bank. I can afford it. I’ll just ask the boss for a little unpaid time off and go south for a few days.” And so I did.
A few years earlier I’d had a different job, been living hand-to-mouth, lucky to have twenty bucks left after paying my monthly bills. Now I was making closer to the Canadian Median Wage after more than half a decade of being one of the working poor. Now I could afford a vacation. Now I could take the time.
About then is when the phrase came back to me, ‘Time is Money,’ and I realized that in some ways it could be taken as literally true. And if Time is Money then Money is Time. Having the money in the bank allowed me to take the time away from work.
Maybe that’s not a big revelation to most people but it was to me. Having a few dollars in the bank grants a lot of freedom.
I’ve never objected to working. I’m not one of those guys who dreamt of striking it rich and retiring at 30. I had friends with those dreams, but they weren’t mine. I like working. That wasn’t the kind of freedom that I was looking for.
The kind of freedom that I found the most satisfying came when I looked for a new job. Knowing that I was in no hurry and knowing that I didn’t need to take the first job I was offered. It was a super good feeling going into a job interview saying, “This is what I can do for you. What can you do for me?” rather than hoping to not blow the interview. I became a negotiator, not a supplicant. I could be choosy about whether the job would be a good fit for me.
A job that is a ‘good fit’ generally makes a happier, more productive employee. A good boss will notice that and make an effort to keep you happy.
But Time is not really Money – Work is Money
On the internet I sometimes see people claiming that money is useless and without value; that it is created out of nothing. I guess things could appear that way if you are far removed from its creation. (A lot of these same people will be more than willing to give you their ‘vary valuable’ crap and take away your ‘completely useless’ cash. How generous!... The offer should tell you something about their true beliefs.)
Money isn’t created from nothing. Value is created by valuable work and money is the thing (the place holder) that we choose to represent that value. So money is an artificial creation, true, but it doesn’t come from nothing. It is an offshoot of both created value and a societal agreement to accept this place holder that we use to represent that value.
Credit doesn’t come from nothing either. Credit is created by the borrower’s promise, and demonstrated ability, to do valuable work.
Credit and money both spend exactly the same way. You can’t tell the difference between them in the economy.
What I am trying to say with all of this is that if you want a comfortable amount of wealth be prepared to work for it. And try to do ‘high value’ work. Your earliest investments should be in yourself. The investment doesn’t need to be money, it can be time and work. Improve your skills. Improve your knowledge. Use the library, it’s free.
Starting out is the hardest part. It took me years to get the ball rolling.
No comments:
Post a Comment