Our society has taken to worshiping tech giants, and the people who have created some of the
greatest innovations of the last 20 years.
People like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, and Jeff Bezos are all revered as incredible people
who seem to accomplish more in a day than most people do in their entire lifetimes.
The amount of projects these people take on seems insurmountable, but in reality, how
much can even these brilliant minds accomplish?
The truth is, the average life expectancy in the United States is 79 years, but the
universe has been around for 13.8 billion years.
Our lives are nothing but a blip, then, right?
Even if that’s the case, it’s easy to find a moment here and there to sit in a meadow,
enjoy the flowers, and feel like your life has infinite time.
79 years, after all, is quite a lot.
But—let’s be honest.
You don’t really get 79 years of free time, do you?
We’ve all heard the age-old saying that it takes 10,000 hours
to become a master at something.
Well, if you have 79 years, that should be pretty easy.
But, if you sleep about 8 hours a day, you will only be left with about 53 years.
Okay, 53 years is still a lot of time—but those years get chopped and banished into
oblivion very quickly.
You’ll probably attend school, and then higher education, which kicks another few
years off your life.
What about your chores.
Not the things your Mom asked you to do when you were a kid, although those take away from
your time on Earth, too.
We’re talking about all the time you’ll spend cooking, cleaning, taking care of your
kids, and making sure bills are paid.
These tasks may seem innocuous, but you’re going to end up spending 8 years of your life
doing this stuff.
Then there’s your phone—and TV, and the internet.
Which will probably take up most of your free time after you’re finished with your job.
Roughly amounting to 15 years if you’re using your phone, or if you’re not that
modern, 7 years worth of watching TV.
Oh—and then you have to factor in your job.
Your civic duty, your source of income, and the place where you’ll likely spend about
100,000 hours of life.
You better find something that makes you happy, or at least you don’t hate..
But, the grass is greener on the other side, right?
Once you retire, you’re free.
Not exactly.
Let’s say you, like most average Americans, retire at 65.
Much of the time between 65 and 79 may be spent trying to quell symptoms of debilitating
conditions—if not disease.
It’s not the happiest time on earth, and it’s called “old-age” for a reason.
So, where are we?
Well, if you minus all the time calculated for all the activities above—you’re left
with negative time on the Earth; negative-three years to be exact.
How is that possible?
Is your life really taken away from you before it begins?
It’s easy to view it that way, but there’s a more positive way to look at everything
we’ve discussed.
Remember, you have freedom of choice in life.
You don’t have to spend 15 years of your life on your phone, or 7 years of your life
watching TV.
Part of the magic of spending all that time taking care of yourself for 8 years of your
life is that your “old-age” might end up being a time where you can feel young again.
If you mindlessly scroll on your phone through useless articles, that's 15 years of your
life gone.
If you hate your job and you can’t wait for it to end, then that’s going to cost
you 12 years of your life.
The idea is not about how much time we spend
but instead to be mindful about how we spend it.
Embrace the brevity of life for what it is and savor every moment.
Those prolific tech giants like Elon, Jobs and Bezos—Do you think they’re spending
15 years of their time mindlessly scrolling on their phones?
We consider them masters of what they do.
Now let’s get back to the 10,000 hour rule.
If you spent that 15 years on your phone, lets say learning about your passions and
doing the things you love, you could master over a dozen art forms, professions or skills.
Just think about how effective you can become if you only start to spend your time carefully.
If you want to view your time on Earth, remember, the most important thing to do is view it
positively.
Life on earth has been around for 3.8 billion years, but the most current moment is yours.
Now, take yourself back to that open field filled with flowers and the sun high above
your head.
Each of those flowers represents another day of your life filled with opportunities.
Seem huge?
Great.
Spend it wisely.