I value freedom. Especially time freedom. I value it so much that most people think that I’m off the grid and unavailable. Which in some ways is true, but in others, it couldn’t be more wrong. I learned a trick from billionaire Warren Buffett many years ago. No, he didn’t personally teach me this, although that would have made for a way cooler story.
I watched an interview where Charlie Rose was interviewing Buffett and Bill Gates at the same time. It was a fascinating dichotomy listening to the two of them talk, and although they have so much in common, they are also different in so many ways.
What stood out was when they talked about their personal schedules. Gates went on to explain how detailed his schedule is, and how there was so much coordination, because everything was tightly crafted so that his entire day was planned out and accounted for. I remember thinking to myself, if that’s what it takes to really be successful, I want no part of it.
He wasn’t the first person that I heard talk this way. I’ve listened to so many colleagues say that if it doesn’t get scheduled, it doesn’t get done. And then describe a similar plan where their days- and their hours- are all filled in during the work week.
I don’t add much to that type of conversation. I just can’t relate. That sounds so painful to create a business that can give you freedom and you intentionally choose to schedule it all beforehand.
At the end of the dialogue between Rose and Gates, the Microsoft founder laughed and then explained how he might have gotten this all wrong. He then started talking about the time when Warren Buffett showed him his calendar.
“I had every minute packed and I thought it was the only way you could do things,” Gates laughed as Buffett pulled out the cheap little pocket calendar that Rose thumbed through during the interview.
“He has days that there’s nothing on it,” Gates explained.
“Absolutely,” Buffett responded.
Rose then looked at a week in April, and there were only three entries in the entire week on Warren Buffett’s calendar.
“There might be four by April,” Buffett joked.
But Gates got more serious as he discussed what he learned from Buffett.
“I learned that you control your time,” Gates explained. “And that sitting and thinking may be a much higher priority than a normal CEO might think. You have all of these demands and you feel like you need to go and see all of these people. It’s not a proxy of your seriousness that you’ve filled every minute of your schedule.”
“I can buy anything I want,” Buffett explained. But I can’t buy time. So I had better be careful with it because there is no way that I can buy more time.”
Buffett later explained that what people value most from him is his time, and by keeping his schedule open, he can be there when he can because of that freedom.
That was one of the most impactful lessons that I learned as an adult.
What if I valued my time more, I asked myself. What if I stopped focusing on working for money and keeping my schedule busy and, instead, focused on freeing up my time so I could do what really mattered?
It became almost an obsession. It was wild how so many things seemed less important. I spend my time doing this, but can it be eliminated? I spend my time doing that, but can it be outsourced? I spend my time on this other thing, but do I really enjoy it? Is it meaningful?
And I came to the conclusion where I agreed with author John Maxwell, who said to never underestimate the unimportance of just about everything.
That freed me up mentally like you couldn’t believe. And what I learned is this.
- I needed to create recurring online revenue if I wanted to not trade my time for money for much longer.
- 90% of the things I was doing were unimportant or I was just doing it for the money.
- Conversations and time spent with people, thinking time, studying subjects that fascinate me and creating content were all that really mattered.
So I set forth to build a life where I no longer worked for money. A life where I had days that were abundant in conversations and relationships, that gave me a ridiculous amount of quiet time whenever I needed it for thinking, studying or learning. And that I had more than enough time to create the content that I love to create that’s helpful to my specific audience.
That, in a nutshell, is my work life. And aside from three to four hours a week for my membership and mastermind calls, my work week has a clear calendar like Buffett’s to build the dream career and life.
And I owe so much of this to that unconventional advice that Warren Buffett gave during that interview. That was never taught to me in school, by my bosses or even by my family.
And it made me think- I should try to give Warren Buffett a call next week. Both of our calendars should be wide open. I’m about 113 billion shy of him in net worth but we both have virtually the same level of time freedom.
Do you think he’d take my call?
Have an AMAZING week!
Vincent
P.S. Because I have created that freedom in my schedule, I am opening three spots this week for free 1:1 calls (just to those of you subscribed to the newsletter) to answer any questions you have about your path towards membership freedom. Just reply to this email and they will be scheduled on a first come, first served basis!
