If you’ve ever been told that you have the same 24 hours as the next person, pay close attention. The mindset of successful business people differs from their non-successful counterparts because successful business people tend to place a high value on their time.
How much do you value your time?
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How To Value Your Time Over Everything Else
1. Time, Not Money, is Finite
We love acting like money, and certain natural resources are so limited, but the truth is, it’s time and not money that is finite. And due to money, you can actually buy other people’s time, thus placing a higher value on your time than theirs.
For example, if you know that your time is worth $100 an hour because that’s how much your boss pays you or how much you bill your clients, why would you wait in a 30-minute line to return a $10 item? Likewise, why would you spend an hour grocery shopping when you can pay someone else to do it, enabling you to earn more money?
2. Calculate The Worth of Your Time
Part of the problem is that most people have never calculated the worth of their time. They know how much their boss pays them, or they know how much they want to bill their clients, but often these numbers are completely arbitrary and are simply the “going rate” that’s not based on reality either. In fact, if more people established the worth of their time based on reality, they’d demand a lot more money from their clients or employers.
Many HR departments use the number of 2080 yearly hours to designate full-time work. So even if you’re on a salary, they’re going to say that you earn your paycheck by working full time. This is equal to 40 hours a week (9am to 5pm Monday to Friday) 52 weeks a year, for a total of 2080 hours.
This HR department magic number ends up on the companies compensation records as part of the benefits of the job and health insurance, paid time off (PTO), and other compensation. This is a great place for you to start figuring how much your time is worth but doesn’t consider the entire picture. After all, you don’t work only 40 hours a week, you do other stuff too.
What’s Your Hourly Worth?
So, to calculate your hourly worth, let’s focus on what you would like your life to be like, not what it currently is. If you want a specific lifestyle, go ahead, and add up what that would really cost. Then add in how much you want to work, not how much you do work, and that is your hourly worth even if you’re not there yet.
For example, let’s say you want to earn 120K a year before taxes by working 20 hours a week. This equates to only 1040 hours of work a year, making your hourly worth over $115 an hour. Knowing this, since you don’t love mowing your lawn, you should jump at the chance of paying Billy down the street $50 bucks a week to keep your lawn nice because it’s worth it to you based on how much your time is really worth according to your life design.
3. Some Things Are Priceless
One thing the rich and successful have figured out that hasn’t been passed down to the masses is that some things are priceless. Your child’s birth, their first birthday, kindergarten graduation, and anything that takes you away from those types of things – the things that will never happen again – should come at a much higher price and even be considered priceless. When you start to think of your own time as priceless and irreplaceable, productivity becomes almost automatic because you know there is no time to waste.
When you truly understand not only the value of your time, but the probability of the length of your life, and how you can’t go back in time, or forward, and that you only have right now – when you really get that – it becomes so much easier to habitually value your time above all else – because your time is the most precious thing you have.
You can’t get it back once squandered.
How Your Mindset Affects Your Success in Life
Having a success mindset means that when you have challenges, you’ll be able to work through them with confidence and clarity. It means that when you are presented with an opportunity you’ll be able to set fears aside and take advantage of the opportunity.  Download my free checklist, Cultivating A Sucess Mindset and start taking steps today to embrace a positive mindset and watch how your business, and your life, change.