Did you know the currencies of Money, Health, Time & Energy follow a timeline in our lives?

It’s not an exact science but it is a pattern that will hold true for most of us – unless we do something to change the pattern.

The timeline is as follows,

• In youth we have lots of time & energy, our health is in peak shape but we have very little money
• In middle age we have money, health & energy but we are time poor. The health & energy we have isn’t what it was in our youth and has started to decline
• In old age we have money that has been accumulated over our lifetime and we have lots of spare time but our health & energy will be diminished

This timeline is explained further below,

YOUTH:

We have lots of spare time in our youth as we don’t have many responsibilities. This means we have the gift of a huge amount of time – what freedom!

We have optimum health & lots of energy just by the nature of being young.

We spend most of our youth in some form of education and when we start working we do so at the bottom of the salary scale, moving on up that scale throughout our working lives – this means in youth we have very little money.

I think this timeline is pretty accurate – in my youth I had excellent health, loads of energy and lots of free time but very little money. Most people’s youth is probably similar to this.

MIDDLE AGE:

The timeline suggests that in middle age we have money, energy and health but we are TIME POOR.

In middle age we are possibly earning and have accumulated a certain amount of money. More than likely we have less time and our health & energy will naturally start to decline.

In this stage of life earning more money may come at the cost of having less time.

As I moved into middle age where I am now I became TIME POOR – REALLY TIME POOR!

This absence of time didn’t suit me and so I left my day job, one of the reasons being to gain more time. The financial cost of leaving my day job was one I was more than willing to pay in exchange for the precious gift of time.

Moving through middle age my health isn’t what it was in my 20’s and 30’s. Yes I’m relatively fit and healthy but all sorts of ailments are starting to appear!

In terms of energy, I do not have the same energy I had in my youth. The energy I have now is different, I would call it more vitality than energy.

OLD AGE:

In old age we have money that has been accumulated over our lifetime and we have lots of spare time but our health & energy won’t be what it was in our youth or middle age.

We have lots of spare time as our work will have slowed down or we will have retired from work altogether.

Our health & energy, no matter how well we look after it, will have declined over the previous decades.

I have a few years to go before I reach old age but going by this timeline what is waiting for me is money & time but no health or energy to enjoy it!

IS THIS WHAT I WANT?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

So, how do I change the timeline that seems to ring true for every stage of life?

How do I create my own timeline?

I prioritise where I spend & how I improve the currencies of Time, Energy, Health & Money.

• Here in middle age the priority is to gain more time and to have sufficient money, health and energy to enjoy this time
• To avoid what is waiting for me in old age the priority is to improve my health & energy so that I can enjoy my time and money

The above will be a balancing act and a work in progress for the rest of my life but hopefully one that will pay dividends here in middle age and throughout the years ahead.

What do the currencies of money, health, time & energy mean to you?

Can you see the above timelines in your own life?

Do you want to defy the age timeline and create your own timeline?

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Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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