Now, you’ve heard this phrase before. ‘Pay yourself first’. It generally applies within a financial context in which we set aside money for savings before we pay our bills, our expenses and taxes even. It is sound counsel, but I wonder if most of us take full advantage? Setting aside money today builds equity and security for tomorrow … sometimes a ‘tomorrow’ that is a long ways off. I wonder if any of you have considered another ‘pay yourself first’ strategy that can reap massive returns in the long-term and the short run. Consider applying this same strategy to a different asset. Time. Perhaps time is the only real asset we have in life. In essence, we buy everything with time. So, pay yourself first … in time. If you don’t, you’ll always be chasing it.
What are the things that you “just don’t have time for” every day? Exercise … reading … a proper meal … a good nights sleep … a shared experience with a loved one – and what are those you forgo at work? These are all short-term liabilities to failing to pay our selves first in time allocation. But, what about the long term costs? Poor health … anxiety or depression …failed relationships … a flat career trajectory – failing to pay yourself before others can carry a very real cost of life-long lost opportunity.
Let’s do something different:
- Make a list – ask those close to you about the things they have heard you say you didn’t have time for in the last 90 days. Write them down, don’t argue, debate or rationalize. Pick one that matters to you.
- Schedule the time – put that item in your calendar every day, every week, every month for the next 90 days. Whether you schedule it during working hours or after hours, put it in writing – and publish the commitment to whoever matters.
Pay yourself first. The asset is yours to invest as you see fit. Most of us can carve out and reallocate a full ten percent of every day – and we don’t even miss it. Do it now.
-Don Brown
don@donbrown.org
Don Brown dedicates his career to ‘helping people with people’ in leadership, sales and customer service. Bilingual and experienced at the executive and line-level alike, you see the results of his work across dozens of industries, including brewing, automotive, airline, banking and medical equipment.
Speaking, writing, coaching and selling to the best – Ford Motor Company, Anheuser-Busch, United Airlines, Harley-Davidson, Jaguar Cars, Hilton Hotels and many, many more – Don takes great pride in long-standing customer relationships (some running well over twenty years).
