It is an interesting turn of phrase isn’t it? The underlying idea is that your life is a bit like a savings account – a precious resource that needs to be used to best advantage, spent carefully. If you have savings, you probably agree that you need to take care about what you choose to spend them on. The fact is, your life, energy, potential and possibilities are limited, just like the money in your account, so you need to give careful consideration as to how you use your most precious limited resource.
Most of us couldn’t find the time or the money to be able to visit every country in the world. There is always a trade off when you begin investing life time in something. You are not doing something else. I noticed that this week. I love listening to music. This week I have been doing some research into loudspeakers. I want the best loudspeakers I can get for the lowest possible price (does this sound familiar?). In our family we increasingly rely on what we call our ‘Google Geeks’.
There is always someone out there on the internet who knows what you want to know
How? Because they have decided to invest huge chunks of their existence immersing themselves in something that only catches your attention for a short while. In my view, there is nothing wrong with that; in fact, it is exactly what I advocate. Do what you love. But first, understand what you love. If you want to spend every flexible hour you have understanding speaker technology, great. If that is what makes you happy or gives you pleasure, great.
A couple of months ago we were having some fun with the Maths of Life. We came up with the following figures. Start with the biblical quote (Psalms 90) that it is likely that you will only endure on this earth for three score and ten years (70). We calculated that you will spend about 30% of this asleep and about 10% at school/university/work. If you discount the years it takes you to grow up (we guessed at 20, although some of us may never grow up), when your non working/sleeping time is filled up largely by accident, that leaves you with approximately 40 years where you have some flexible time (surrounded by working life) and maybe 10 years of retirement. That’s approximately 4335 hours or 180 days each year before you retire. How are you spending your 180 days of flexible time this year? How have you spent it in the past?
How can you spend your life better?
All of this seems to me to be a persuasive case for taking a look at the way you are currently spending your life. It may be that you have got it cracked and that the way you spend your time and effort is exactly the way it ought to be.