Standing in line to purchase a pack of peanut M&Ms, I noticed an ATM machine near the front counter. The signage urged anyone who gave it so much as a cursory glance to invest in bitcoin. Color me skeptical. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, or maybe I just don’t know enough about bitcoin to indulge in it. More than likely it’s a bit of both, but for now, I will invest my money in tried and true boring mutual funds.
Money is most certainly the first thing I think of when I hear the word investing, and I wish someone had taught me the good side of compound interest 20 years ago, but my middle-aged self has learned time can be just as valuable an investment and produce just as big of a return if not bigger.
Time investment works just like a financial investment. If you don’t invest your time you won’t get a return. I get mad sometimes when my novel isn’t coming along or my woodworking project looks more like a toppled Jenga tower than a table. Is the time invested producing favorable returns? If not, do I need to invest more time, more money, or is the project becoming a drain and worth continuing?
Just like money can be invested in different areas so can time. You can invest time into your own fund, or you can invest time in other people’s funds. The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is. That can be time and money combined. How I manage my finances now will affect those around me, and how much time I pour into my two kids and my marriage will most definitely have an impact, good or bad.
My son takes Karate and class starts before I get off work. There are times I want to just drive home and veg, content to see him when he gets home, but when I go to Karate straight from work and I walk in, his face lights up and he will throw me a little hidden wave and a big smile. I have made an investment in his fund.
When I come in the door after a long day and I just want to change clothes and sit down, my little girl yells, “Daddy” and bounds down the hallway, with our dog in tow, jumping up and down sounding like a skipping record, (google what a record is kids) repeating “play with me, play with me.”, those times I choose to chase her around the coffee table or play CareBears, I have made an investment into her fund.
Love is many times considered an investment but to love someone you must spend the currency of time, so for the sake of this post, time/love are the same. In the two examples, I gave all three of us are getting instant returns and hopefully long-term returns. No matter how tired I am, nothing feels as good as being dog piled on by my kids and basking in their excitement of daddy being home. I hope they will carry those memories with them as they grow up.
Not too long ago, I was feeling dejected about what kind of effect I was having on those around me. I didn’t feel noticed and I felt pretty useless. Notice I said the words, felt. It wasn’t the truth, they were lies and I had started listening to them. Driving into work is when I have little chats with God. This one particular morning, I asked Him straight out, “Am I making a difference?” Remember when I was standing in line to buy those peanut M&M’s? The cashier was a young black woman about a year out of high school. She worked the early morning shift at the convenience store allowing me the opportunity to speak with her on multiple occasions. Before I walked out with my healthy M&M breakfast she said, “Thank you for being a good one.” I must have looked puzzled so she elaborated. She and her mom had grown up in Chicago and had some negative experiences with the police there. She thought we were pretty much all alike, power-hungry and demeaning, but she appreciated me taking the time to ask how she was doing. To ask about her weekend and encourage her. I hadn’t realized I had done all those things. I just stopped and talked with her while she rang up my order. I thought back to my question to God just minutes before. I smirked and thought, Oh, you are good. I made an investment.
I once asked a State Farm insurance representative (Sorry, it wasn’t Jake) how her weekend was and over an hour later we ended the phone call with only 10 minutes worth of the call about insurance. How are you managing your investments? Don’t listen to the lies that you are useless or meaningless. Today, ask the customer service lady how she is doing or talk to the cashier while they are scanning your purchase. Go invest. No act is meaningless that lightens the load of someone else and trust me, we all have heavy loads.
Keep developing yourself and what is your favorite M&M?
The Latent Man 