Investment Is Not Only Money

Investment Is Not Only Money

Not long ago, my family had a small scare with money.

My wife was laid off out of nowhere. At the same time, our savings were tied up in a company run by an acquaintance. That month we also had school fees for our two kids. Three things landed together, and we were in deficit, living on credit cards.

It did not last. My wife found work again, and I got a bonus. But the scare made us look again at how we spent and invested.

What I realized was late: we did not lack money. We lacked knowledge. The thing we should have invested time in years ago.

Then I began to think about "investment" differently. It is not only money. It is also time.

You invest in a trip. Sometimes it is giving a hobby enough time so it stops being unfinished.

I am back into mechanical keyboards. To build one I like, I have to learn how switches differ, aluminum or plastic, which layout fits my hands. The process is the reward, not the keyboard.

Lately I met friends who love coffee. More than the taste, coffee keeps a knowledge worker going.

Watching how they invest in machines, tools, and knowledge of beans, I saw how half-hearted I have been.

I like coffee, but never gave it real time. Years of drinking, thin knowledge. It made my experience feel cut short, and left me with wrong ideas.

I thought I knew. I only knew the habit.

With money, I did not take time to understand where it went. With coffee, I did not take time to understand what I drank every day.

What is worth investing most is not money. It is time. Money can be earned back. Time cannot.