“The greatest lesson I’ve learnt about time is that it only goes forward. No matter how much money you have, you can’t go back and relive the moment. All you have is the present.”
When asked about the greatest lesson he’s ever learned, Luthuli says: “My mother was murdered in 2013, and that horrific incident has taught me a lesson I’ll never forget. Don’t hesitate to act because we never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
“There are so many things left unsaid, and I’ll never get the chance again. Now I live my life knowing the value of a moment. I tell my children I love them every day, and I kiss my wife every chance I get. I make time for my sister and my friends. I call the ones I miss because I know I may never get that privilege again,” he adds.
The founder of Luthuli Capital says we should value the months, days, hours and minutes like sages with crucial life lessons. “Time is the greatest teacher of all. You are the sum of your habits, good or bad. Experience is what builds your character and morals.”
Understand value
A wealth management expert who believes in creating generational prosperity through building equity, Luthuli describes himself as a “patient and calculated investor who knows value from the inside out.”
“It takes time to make mistakes and even more time to learn from them. If you understand the value of time better, you can gain experience and develop skills. You were not the same today as you were 10 years ago – not in your appearance, knowledge, or experiences. Everything around you changes with the passage of time.”
The investment specialist says understanding that unlocks the fundamental understanding of time itself. “All we have is now. Time is the most valuable resource because you cannot take it back,” he says.
“Time is the greatest teacher of all. You are the sum of your habits, good or bad. Experience is what builds your character and morals.”
On the relationship between time and money, Luthuli stresses that one needs time to make money. And that money is required to save time. He offers this example: “If you want to buy something, you have to save for it. The only way to save for it is to spend your time making money. In other words, you have to figure out how to maximise your time so that you make the most money while making good use of your time. You can save time by saving money, and you can save money by making the best use of your time.”
Money buys time
Luthuli says frankly that most humans don’t have a healthy relationship with money. “We think of it as an enemy—something that constantly gets in our way, or we think of it as a goal, something that will solve all of our problems.
The reality, he says, is that we’ve all got to figure out that money is just a tool. “How effective that tool is depends on your temperament, skills and habits. When you think of money as a resource or a tool, that implies it’s to be used, so in a way, you allow yourself to use it. Yes, it takes a lot of work, and it’s not exactly easy to use. Still, it’s a lot easier to come up with a financial plan when you think of money in these terms instead of as a hindrance or aspiration.”
All you have is today
In Luthuli’s opinion, What is the smartest, most important lesson that entrepreneurs can learn about time and money?
“How every moment of an entrepreneur’s day is spent holds a direct correlation to how successful the business will be. It’s critical to leave work that others can handle and focus on growing the business.
“A great way to start doing that is to plan each day with a schedule and make every effort to keep to it. Three time-management principles that always hold true are:
- Create a stable morning routine – Maintain a daily schedule; it’s necessary to have a predictable start to each day. Get up as early as is comfortable, have breakfast, exercise, and get going. That will help to make sure each new day gets off to a solid start.
- Complete high-value work early – Because an entrepreneur’s time is valuable, it’s essential to do the most important work of the day early on. It will help make sure the work gets done on time, and if the schedule goes awry as the day progresses, the agenda items that get skipped won’t be critical.
- Reserve time at the end of the day for reflection – It’s easier than you think for an entrepreneur to get so wrapped up in their daily goings-on that they lose sight of the bigger picture. So, it’s important to leave time each day to digest the day’s events and think about how they’ve affected the business. That way, making slight course corrections from day to day can prevent minor issues from becoming big ones.”
Inc
