The Currencies of Life
Have you ever thought of currency as your time, effort, attention, and money?
Think about it.
People can get so caught up with material goods, that they forget that their time is their life.
And then, you start to wonder what success actually means. Does it mean having all this stuff, but feeling empty? Does it mean what?
When you start treating time, effort, attention, and money as equals, you start to gain some perspective about what’s really important to you, at this stage of your life.
Time. Everyone has the same amount of time, although not everyone uses their time in the same way. When thinking about time, consider (1) keeping a schedule/calendar, (2) having a “to do by due date” list, or simply (3) being where you need to be when you need to be there.
But, that’s easy to say. When you give time to one thing, by default, you’re not giving it to something else. You have to choose. And if you don’t choose, then you get the results that are connected to that “not choosing.” You have to prioritize between important things, which is how you steer your life.
Effort. Effort is how we show up. It’s what we feel like moment to moment. What does powerful effort look like? It may be a sense of readiness coupled with a belief in oneself. Or it might be “giving 100%, 100% of the time” as the great Greg Harden used to say.
And you can’t always be ‘on.’ You have to take time to recover, both mentally and physically.
At a simple level, effort can be tied to how much and how well you sleep, move, and take care of your basic needs. So, take care of yourself so you show up the best you can to everything you do.
Attention. Nowadays, it can feel like everything wants your attention. So, you have to learn to manage your attention, noticing if something is a real signal that needs acting on or if it’s just noise, a distraction.
Some simple things to help you manage your attention could be turning your phone onto grayscale mode, writing sticky notes with what you want to focus on and placing them in places you’ll see often, or making a vision board/custom wallpaper for your phone.
As you start paying attention to what helps you get focused and what takes your focus away, you’ll learn strategies that work for you.
It’s not only important to notice how your own attention is influenced by your environment, but also how much you’re invested in needing attention from others. We need community and close relationships, so there’s nothing wrong with that, just correct course when connection is taking you away from your priorities and vice versa.
Money. Money can mean access to facilities, tools, gear, stuff, and opportunities. Money is great, but it should know its place in your life. Use money as a tool, think ahead, and make good decisions consistently. If you don’t have much money yet, maximize on the currencies you do have.
When you learn to channel your different currencies into your goal direction, you can become very congruent in your decision making.
Using this perspective about multiple forms of currency, an athlete might start thinking like this:
Time: Scheduling training sessions and recovery time.
Effort: Prioritizing sleep and nutrition to fuel workouts.
Attention: Focusing on technique during practice instead of getting distracted by a phone.
Money: Investing in quality coaching, gear, or a good diet.
One last point for self-reflection. Using this currencies model, you might start asking yourself questions like:
"Where is my time going? Am I spending it on things that matter to me?"
"How is my effort account looking? Do I have a surplus, or am I running on empty?"
"What’s stealing my attention? Am I focusing on signals or just noise?"
"Is my money being used as a tool to support the other three currencies, or is it a source of stress?"
And ultimately, “what can I improve about my approach?”
And if you haven’t noticed yet, your currencies are your T.E.A.M.
