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Sounds Good, But Is It Real?
This week’s topic falls into the category of “I can’t believe I haven’t written about this yet”.
I’ve been sharing thoughts on the challenges in the family wealth space here every week for over a decade, and I don’t think I’ve ever dealt with this specific topic.
Not only that, but the catalyst for this post was a call I had recently with an old friend and former work colleague, who doesn’t fall into the wealth category that most of my clients inhabit.
Nevertheless, when we were catching up recently after far too long, he lamented the fact that he wasn’t wanting for more money, but was certainly being stretched for time.
That got me thinking that people who have plenty of money often believe they’ll be able to exchange some of that money for more time, but that that equation is not as straightforward as they’d like.
Wouldn’t It Be Nice
With a timely hat tip to the recently departed Brian Wilson, wouldn’t it be nice if you could actually buy more time?
Unfortunately, many people bust their hump for decades with the hope that some day, eventually, they can stop working so hard so that they’ll have more time for other things.
Of course there are some people for whom this does work out quite well, and maybe we should be asking them for their tips.
But if you take a look at my aforementioned friend, he’s dealing with an aging and ailing parent, and some very young grandkids who are clamouring for his time.
At the same time, his work life is now at a point where he’s busier than ever, and can’t see a short term solution to his being needed so much.
I happen to be a trustee of his family trust and we were talking about the fact that he needed me to sign some distribution cheques with big numbers on them.
“As you can see, money is not what I need more of, I need more time!” he said.
Do We Care Too Much?
Together we agreed that his biggest problem is that he cares too much about others, and if he were selfish, a lot of his problems would go away.
That’s almost a subject for a whole other blog post, but that may be too depressing to consider, because I think many people suffer from a similar condition!
But it does underscore the fact that simply taking some of one’s plentiful stock of money and believing that you can easily exchange it for more time is not as simple as you think.
And that’s true for a variety of reasons, most of which come down to the reality that dealing with human beings is rarely as simple as we’d like!
Where It Works Well
There are some straightforward areas where you can “buy” more time.
You can pay someone to mow your lawn or paint your house, thereby freeing yourself up for more enjoyable tasks.
But when you’re building a business that you’ve been dedicating your life to, it can be difficult to stop leaning forward and learn to lean back instead.
It can be done, and some people manage to accomplish it, but it doesn’t just happen
What Else Do We Need to Do?
There are a few things one needs to do to make this work.
I’m going to try to make them easier to remember by making them all start with the same letter.
Decide
Like so many other important steps we take in life, it starts with a decision.
This might come as a result of a specific incident that sparks a lightbulb moment, or it might come as a result of an accumulation of exhausting days or weeks.
Either way, you need to make up your mind that you’re now going to change.
Delegate
Unless you don’t care about others and are ready to just drop everything, you’ll need to find others to step up and fill in.
This isn’t as easy as it sounds and can take time.
Even if you need to spend time training someone else, you’ll get that time back many times over later.
Don’t Back Up
Things will not go in a straight line or easily, but you need to continue to push forward, and never let up.
Whatever you do, don’t back up, or back down!
