What is the Value of Time?

What is the value of time? In the corporate world we look at time through an hourly rate of costs, or opportunity costs of making or missing a deadline, or maybe getting a project or not. We value time monetarily, but I have never met anyone on their death-bed saying, “I wasted $367,381.00 worth of my time.” They usually say things like, “I wish I would have spent more time with my family, or “I wish I would have had a greater impact on the world”, or maybe something like, “I wish I would have learned to fly.”

I wonder if the real value of time is more relative than objective.  Is spending time writing in my journals so my grandchildren will know their grandfather better more important than making that last business meeting on Friday?

I think the real problem is we want others to dictate our lives. That way we it doesn’t go like we planned we can blame it on someone else when our life sucks.  We want someone else to be responsible because we don’t want too.

I think Steve Jobs gave the best advice in this quote I heard at Donald Miller’s Storyline event, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” Now I am not sure where Steve stood with God, but my inner voice that leads me comes from my Father.

What will you do with your time?