A friend of mine recently quit her job. Her reasons were unique to her situation: overworked, underpaid and unsatisfied with her work culture and environment, she felt she didn't have the time and energy to focus on things she did want to do - learn something new, live a healthier life. She decided to take a hiatus to achieve those things for herself.
Practical as always, I asked how she managed it. Being without income is a nervewrecking prospect and she probably sensed that in my question.
What she said gave me great food for thought.
I couldn't find a reason to argue with that.
It's interesting that we are ever so ready to part with our cash for material things - bags and shoes - or even to travel and find temporary escape from our lives, but less willing to spend money to buy ourselves time to build upon ourselves and our lives.
More than anything else, time is something we only have less of as we grow older, so it would seem a more precious commodity than anything material.
I've fallen in love with the idea of time as something to invest or to invest in, so that every day counts towards building a life that I wake up loving and excited about. As I turn 27 this weekend, I am more aware than ever of my desire to build a life I won't want to escape from.
It can manifest in the more 'extreme' form of quitting your job, or a milder version like taking a short sabbatical.
For me, I'm taking baby steps.
Every weekend, I make an effort to invest time in my future. I spend time researching ideas I have to see if any of them have legs. I've made plans to start a Coursera course to learn more about branding and digital.
Each month, I resolve to save up resources so that one day, buying time can be an option.
Maybe next time you think about buying something for yourself, as retail therapy, you can consider buying time for yourself instead.
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