TIME is our greatest currency!
Time is our Greatest Currency can be a life-changing perspective. With a little help, it’s a perspective that can instantly boost the amount of consistent joy and happiness you experience in your life. I’m about to share how you can get the greatest Return On Investment (ROI) from embracing this perspective and allowing it to work to enhance every area of your life.
Up until a few weeks ago, I had always associated the word ‘currency’ with money. After all, it’s the only way I had ever heard currency referred to. But when our local newspaper announced its Citizen of the Year in an article, who happened to be a friend of mine whom I deeply admire, one of his quotes about knocked me off my chair when I realized for the first time ever how much truth and power his statement had. He offered the quote “Time is our greatest currency” while being interviewed for the story.
As I continued reading the article, I quickly realized that it was the way this man utilized the currency of his time that had 18 different individuals nominate him…without him knowing that they were. Just think of the positive impact his choice of how he spends his time is having on the greater community. It reminded me of the Angel in the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ when he tells the main character, “Strange isn’t it, each man’s life touches so many other lives.” Then, as I was processing the powerful impact this one man was having on so many others, I asked myself “What if everyone saw their own personal time as currency? Would it change the way they spent it each day? Could it change the world?”
As a young adult, I wanted to make a difference in the community I was living in. Speakers that I’d listened to often utilized the 3T term ‘Time, Talent, and Treasure’ when talking about ways to have a positive impact on the community. I also came to realize that our Treasure contribution was the most coveted of the three for people and organizations trying to accomplish their goals. The utilization of specific fundraisers became the most effective way for organizations to continue to provide desperately needed services to the community I chose to call home.
Being able to provide financial support to causes and organizations that I believe in (the work they do) has always brought me a real sense of the joy that comes from helping others. The mistake I made for years is that making a financial contribution allowed me to gloss over the Time and Talent portion of the 3T’s and continue on without any further commitment. And then, Volunteering came into my life. Volunteering gave me a way to offer my time and talent along with my treasure. I discovered that the real impact I was able to have on my community was incredibly amplified when I embraced all 3, Time, Talent, and Treasure, in some form of balance with what I could offer the organizations I most believed in.
Ask any group of people “What’s fair in the world” and you’ll get a litany of responses telling you what’s NOT fair. Why? Because the truth is, there’s only one single thing that’s fair in this world of ours, and it’s the fact that we all get 24 hours in each day. Noone gets more. Noone gets less. And the greatest gift we’re given in life is that we get to choose what we’re going to do with each 24 hours we’re provided. That alone should have us all thinking about time as a valuable currency.
My friends quote “Time is our Greatest Currency” has also made me consider a new perspective on talent. I have talents that are unique to me. YOU have talents that are unique to you. So unique that no one else in the entire world has exactly the same set of talents that you currently possess. Have you ever thought of your talents as a form of currency? If you’re currently employed, it’s your talents that generate your income. Are you maximizing the use of your talents in all of the important areas of your life? That’s worth some pondering time. What else could you be doing with your unique set of skills and talents that would bring more joy into your life?
So, back to our perspective on time, if time really is our greatest currency, how are you spending yours? Frankly, I was disappointed in myself when I measured the Return On Investment of the time I spend on social media. While social media has a few redeeming qualities, I find it challenging to manage the effectiveness of the time I spend on it. When I use the perspective of time being my greatest currency, I envision all the other valuable ways I could be spending my time.
This new perspective of seeing time as my greatest currency has me being more mindful of the relationships I have with friends and family. More mindful of the way I treat other people. More mindful of not being in a hurry with everything and everyone in my life. I’m slowing down and spending the precious time I’m given each day as if it’s the greatest treasure I possess. And you know what? I’m smiling more. I’m engaging people more in conversation. I’ve had an uptick in the compassion I feel for others and the burdens they’re carrying with them. I’ve come to realize that time really is our greatest currency and I’m grateful that our personal accounts begin each day full to the limit with 24 hours of opportunity for us to spend. Are you spending yours wisely? I sure hope so. Hey…I Believe In You! GiddyUp!