This week I’d like to start a series about things relating to time and money.  I’d like us to start by challenging ourselves on how we think about spending time by sharing a story about a friend named Dave.

Dave is a friend of mine who lives in the Indy area.  He’s a good guy and a smart dude.  He has a solid job and makes pretty good money.  With that said, Dave is always borderline broke.  If you’d ask him about this he’d say something like, “I don’t know where all the money went.”  If you’d go over to his house you’d find a lot of junk he has purchased that he doesn’t need.  If you looked through his finances you’d see that he never took the time to set up a basic savings account or take advantage of things like a 401k.  Dave is always scrambling.  He might make it day to day, but he’s making things pretty hard on himself.  Do you know anyone like Dave?  At this point, if you’re anything like me I’m assuming that you are thinking, “It sounds like this Dave guy has a money spending problem.  He should do something about that.”  That would be a fair and accurate assessment.

What if the story about Dave isn’t about money?  What if Dave’s story is about time?  What if it’s about a talented guy who is always “so busy” and “never has time for anything” and “has way too many priorities.”?  What if the story is about a guy who always seems to be sprinting and exhausted?  Does that sound familiar?  Could that story be about you?  It could be about me sometimes.

How does this connect to anything?  Do you ever think about controlling, investing, and spending your time the same way you do with your money?  As I think about the story about spending money vs. spending time, I find myself intrigued by how we respond differently to them.  If the story is about spending money, I feel we often say, “Dave needs to fix his money spending problem.”  If the story is about spending time, I feel we are prone to say, “Life is just busy.”  If it’s about time we give Dave a pass.  We act like Dave has no ability to control and direct his time.  This isn’t the case.  Just like finances, Dave has the power, ability, and the tools available to him to take more control.  Whether or not Dave wants to admit it, he is CHOOSING not to control his money/time situation. 

I understand that life gets busy.  I understand that some periods of life you sprint harder than others.  My belief is that if you find yourself always sprinting and running around like crazy then something is wrong.  When I realize this is happening to me, I know the first place I need to look is inward.  Am I clear on what I want to accomplish as a human, husband, dad, and employee?  Am I prioritizing the right things?  Am I spending my time on the things that truly need to get done?   

The challenge: Are you controlling, investing, and spending YOUR time in an intentional way?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry