Beware the Time Eater
Always Ravenous
Welcome to the YouTopian Journey, a Substack featured publication. Each week I will be sharing unique wisdom that can help you in the daily battles that we must all fight in the game of life. This week we discuss why you must be wary of the eternal villain that gobbles up your most precious resource…time.
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Now onto the good stuff.
TEMPUS FUGIT
“When I look back on my past and think how much time I wasted on nothing, how much time has been lost in futilities, errors, laziness, incapacity to live; how little I appreciated it, how many times I sinned against my heart and soul-then my heart bleeds. Life is a gift, life is happiness, every minute can be an eternity of happiness.”-Fyodor Dostoevsky
Society is skewed, so very skewed. When we think of our limited personal resources and our most prized possessions, many things come to mind. Our car, home, clothing, shoes, career, friends, video games, furniture, bank account, crypto holdings, etc. Yet our most limited resource, the one that should be protected against all costs, is never even brought up. It is buried amongst the trivialities that we hold so dear.
And what is this resource? This commodity that is more valuable than everything we could ever hope to possess?
It isn’t gold or platinum.
It isn’t oil or another precious resource.
It isn’t a crypto coin.
It is something we all currently have and that we waste.
TIME.
Our time is such a finite and limited resource. This is a universal truth but so few realize and understand it. The multitude protect everything they own with an iron grip, holding their resources within a self-made bastion. But their time? The one thing that they should be overly protective and stingy with? That is given freely and without cost.
So many offer their time to a fool’s errand. They volunteer their time to show that they are doing something…anything that is outside the norm. They give their time to causes they don’t believe in, people they should avoid, and endeavors that offer nothing more than a social media status update. They serve honorary positions, take part in Zoom meetings that are hours long, and attend events that offer the illusion of importance.
And if you were to refuse such an offer for your time, you are looked upon as arrogant and selfish.
I have heard it all before.
We aren’t asking for money; we just want a few hours of your time.
If you could donate your time, it would really help us.
If you could set aside some time, that would be great.
They never once realize that those who understand the true value of time are the individuals who never easily squander it. They protect it, like how a mother protects a newborn.
The individuals who know the true value of their time are usually found doing something personally meaningful and valuable. They aren’t spending their weekends at tailgates or sleeping off a hangover, they are instead utilizing their time as they know how valuable it is.
“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”-Charles Darwin
But the multitude wastes this precious resource. They don’t understand that lost time is never found. They never realize that no matter what they own, more time cannot be purchased or refreshed or reset.
You can pay to look younger.
You can have diets that are proclaimed to slow the aging process.
But you cannot obtain more time.
And yes, I can give you the analogies that the internet is filled with on the value of time. I can tell you some tips on how to be more productive. I can give you more and more quotes. But something in my mind tells me that it wouldn’t make difference.
You need to see wasted time brought to life.
You need to see the demon that stalks you.
You need to see the beast that follows us all.
You need to realize that you have such a limited amount of time on this planet that you need to take action immediately.
You need to be frightened at the prospect of a wasted existence.
You need to meet our first true villain.
The Chronophage…the TIME EATER.
Eternally ravenous.
Omnipresent.
A villain for life.
Make no mistake about it, it is there. Feeding on your wasted potential. Growing stronger as you grow weaker. Feasting on you until your time eventually runs out.
And believe me, it runs out for us all.
You are not immune to the clock of existence.
It tolls for everyone.
It will toll for you.
I created the Time Eater to haunt your dreams, to light a fire, to get you moving. I want you to realize just how precious your time truly is and how fleeting it is.
You must no longer waste your time.
You must use it.
You have something to accomplish. Something that gives you purpose and meaning. Some task to strive for. Something to build. Something to prove. Something to make each day worthy of the work you put in.
Get started!
“Time is our delight and our prison. It binds all human beings together, since we all share the pleasures and burdens of memory, and we all know the anticipation of cherished goals and the dark prospect of personal mortality.”-Petrarch
MAKE IT COUNT
“How little our careers express what lies in us, and yet how much time they take up. It’s sad, really.”-Philip Larkin
One of the saddest aspects of society is that so many dedicate their time to a career rather than their own goals which are intrinsically more rewarding and meaningful. Instead, they champion decades in a company or an industry that might be professionally admirable but is personally negligible.
If you were to realize how finite and short life is, you would quickly stop wasting time on the trivial and focus on the big picture. You would no longer engage in drama or waste your time in a career that doesn’t suit you and a role that was defined for you, and not by you. Social media would be thrown to the side as you would start living for yourself and not the opinions of others. The distractions that plague you would no longer be considered, let alone be used.
But sadly, few come to this realization. And if they do, it isn’t until it is far too late.
Do not be one of them.
One of the primary goals of YouTopian Journey is to get you to take action. Action is the greatest remedy for all illnesses. It may not immediately change your life but it will have an immediate effect on you. With the Time Eater now in play, it is my hope that your thinking begins to change. Most importantly, I hope that you start to examine the hidden but true costs involved with everything.
Yes, this conference might be professionally stimulating, but would it help me with my ultimate goals?
Yes, these additional meetings are needed but are they actually productive? Or is it providing me the illusion of productivity?
Yes, this trip might be fun, but at what cost? Do I have a week to waste on something that does not enlarge me or bring me one step closer to accomplishing what I desire?
“When we give someone our time, we actually give a portion of our life that we never take back.”-Alexander The Great
You need to begin to weigh your choices in a different light. You can no longer think in terms of risk and reward, but in the cost of time utilized and possibly wasted. There is nothing worse than lost time as it can never be found.
You must make your time count. You must realize that to go the wrong way on your own path is far better than the right way on someone else’s. The former isn’t a waste of time as it provides a chance for you to learn, to overcome challenges, and to face obstacles that you are unfamiliar with. The latter provides an easy path that offers nothing but safety and at the cost of your own personal time.
You are going to lose time no matter what you decide to do.
It is far better to lose your time in a battle with adversity on the sea of challenges than to simply watch the clock run out from the safety of the shore.
You must make it count!
But how?
Setting aside time to help you reach your goals. You are spending your time wisely and in a manner that will benefit you in ways that you cannot begin to imagine.
Realize that time compounds, especially backed by effort and genuine merit.
Watching one class per week online will equal to 52 classes a year, an entire curriculum of what you are interested in.
Walking five miles a week will equal to 260 miles a year.
Reading one page a day will equal 365 pages a year.
Writing two pages a day will equal 730 pages a year.
I am living proof that this works. I could have spent the pandemic wasting away, complaining, binging meaningless shows, gorging myself with distractions.
Instead, I chose a higher path. I chose to write, research, and create the very concepts you are reading. I used my time in the best way possible. Looking back, I can proudly say that I have something to show for the investment I made into myself.
You can do this as well.
You can make your time count.
You can beat back the Time Eater and live a life so fulfilling that it will tremble to approach. And you will be better off for it.
Trust me.
“Time is the most valuable thing that we have, because it is the most irrevocable.”-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
CRAMP YOUR CRANIUM
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JOIN ME
I have the honor to be speaking at the Talent to Money Summit June 7th and 8th where I will be discussing YouTopian Journey, purpose, time, as well as making your business a priority. It is being put on by The Ask, a substack publication which I had the honor of being interviewed by last year. It’s free and you can sign up here.
ONE LAST THING
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I’m Shaun Gold and if you are reading this, you are already on your journey. Catch you next week.