The Present of Time

When I was 15 I got to meet an entrepreneur that completely changed my life.

Mr. Seka (not his real name) taught me most of the business lessons I have come to apply day-to-day — from product design and cash flow management to organizational design and pricing; however, one of the most important things he thought me was time management — and no, not the traditional “use a calendar/agenda/wtv other tool to maximize productivity” type of time management. Mr Seka taught me about time management from a “value your time properly because you are going to die and you do not know when” type of time management.

As to how I came to meet this inspiring man I will leave for another post but what I would like to share with you is a little piece of poetry/advice he gifted me with while we worked together. So, here we go.

Imagine there was a bank that credited your account each morning with $86,400. This bank does not carry over any balances from the day prior as it erases all undrawn balances every day at midnight.

What would you do if this bank existed? — Draw out as much as you could of course!

The reality is that this bank exists and each of us has an account. The bank’s name is Time, though to be fair, by the time we wake up the running balance is approximately $57,600.

So what am I talking about here? Well, every day furnishes us with 86,400 seconds that we get to invest however we want. It is up to us to draw out as many of the seconds and invest them in the most profitable manner possible because if one fails to invest the day’s deposits, the loss is not recoverable — It never comes back.

There is no saving. There is no drawing against “tomorrow” or “catching up”. So, one must ensure to invest every second in the things that are the most likely to bring us closer to the things that bring us joy and make us happy.

In conclusion, remember that today is a gift — That’s why it is called the present! → I would also recommend you read this.

👋 Hi! My name is Daniel Nieto // I’m a Toronto-based entrepreneur and creator — I write about building businesses, technology, and investing.

If you’d like to connect you can find me here https://linktr.ee/dnieto ✌️