Which currency you are trading in?
I believe there are 3 main currencies that we all use every day: money, time, and energy.
Back in the 20th Century the main currency people used was money.
The first half of the 20th Century was a write-off. We had two devastating world wars (1914- 1918 and 1939-1945), a pandemic (Spanish flu which killed 20 million people 1918 – 1921) and a major economic depression (1929 – 1933).
From approximately 1950, things began to improve. With a new era of relative peace, Western nations began to experience rising levels of prosperity. This prosperity trickled down to the average person. People worked hard for long hours trading their time and energy for money. The good news was that it did not take a lot of money to live beyond survival level. In Australia by the 1960’s, most hard-working people could afford to purchase their own home and expect to live in relative financial security.
The quest for more time
The quest for more time had begun early in the 20th century. In Australia a 40-hour week was introduced in 1916 in Victoria and NSW, but with all the disruption of the first half of the century, did not become a national policy until 1948, approved through the Commonwealth Arbitration Court. This became the 38hour week in 1983, by decision of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission.
Mindset is harder to change
The legislation may have changed for their employees, but for business owners, especially SME’s, the mindset has always been to work as long as it takes to get the job done. This idea of trading time for money takes much longer to shift. In past generations, if you needed more income, you just keep working, longer and harder. I still come across business owners who are doing their administration and bookkeeping late at night rather than outsourcing it. This tells me they do not value their time. In 2024, even small business owners in Australia must value their time at least $300 per hour if they want a profitable business. Unless they are just starting up, anything they do that does not bring them in $300 /hr they should outsource.
Time is more valuable than money
Since the 1990’s, rapid changes in technology have brought incredible efficiencies that were supposed to release more leisure time. Mostly it has enabled us to increase our efficiency, and along with that our expectations. Instead of leading to more leisure time, we are running faster and are busier than ever.
In the past 30 years we have learned to trade money for time. We use toll roads to save time. Many have outsourced lower value work, paying for a cleaner, a gardener, and other jobs around the house. Most of my clients have staff in the Philippines or India – initially to save money, but since Covid lockdowns, staff for many roles are hard to find in Australia.
With increasing cash flow, often through multiple income streams, we can see that there are always more ways to make more money. Time is finite. We cannot give ourselves more of it. Everyone has the same amount of time. We realise we need to learn to maximise the 24 hours in each day or 168 hours in each week. Some do it very well. For many of us, over a lifetime, there are a lot of wasted hours and days, if not months and years.
The question became, “Do I have the time to do this?” Rather than, “Can I afford to pay for this?”
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Energy is the other currency we must spend wisely
Post Covid lockdowns, we are all a lot more aware of how much energy we must spend. I observe more people trading energy for time.
For example, it makes logical sense from an efficiency and an income viewpoint for me to coach groups of people rather than individuals. One to many is more profitable and takes less time than one-to-one coaching. I have tried group coaching. It is okay. Certainly, it is more efficient for me, from an income and time efficiency point of view. However, I have found I do not enjoy it as much. The clients do not make the individual progress my one-to-one clients make. I have learned that one-to-one client work is what suits me best. One-to-group takes more me more energy and is less fulfilling. It was in answering the energy question that reinforced for me that targeting high value individual clients is better for me.
I work with a capped number of high value clients at any one time. I enjoy working with them. They get great results. My income is more than sufficient for my needs. I am motivated and remain highly engaged.
Energy is about tapping into your passion, not just being efficient
Could I earn more if I just churned out group programs? Probably. But at great cost to me personally. My passion in my work is not just about making money. I love to see clients release the potential in their business, and in their team.
I have learned to prioritise trading time for energy. I trade time for energy when I rest, relax, replenish, time for regular breaks where I disengage completely from work, time to volunteer and give back, hobbies and other leisure pursuits.
The main question has changed for me to, “Do I have the energy or passion for this? Rather than simply, “Do I have the time to do this?”
So, which currency are you trading in?
John Drury Business Mentor – mentoring to develop the leader within you, and to raise up and empower the leaders around you. If you are interested in learning to become a better leader within your business, please reach out for a free conversation (Book here). For many years I have worked with people, developing leaders and creating effective teams.
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