The cost of a thing is the amount of what I call ‘life’ which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.

You want it? How badly? What are you really willing to pay for it?

What percentage of your life are you willing to commit to something you really want?

Many of these choices are pay in advance without guarantee of receipt of goods. A higher education. An investment in a company. The creation of a film or a work of art or any other substantial dream. In these kinds of pursuits, we front load the payment with time, money, and energy.

Other kinds of pursuits which are traditionally viewed as self-indulgent are most commonly paid for on the backside of the experience with health issues, financial issues, relationship issues or other impedances that reflect directly back at the decision that was made. 

The older we get, the more we are cognizant we are of the time-based checkbook from which we invest in our choices. 

As the years pass and we are best able to evaluate similar investments made, we are more prone to color our choices with scrutiny so as to preclude choosing inappropriate options at a later date. As that time becomes ever more precious as we age, the investment considerations become that much more pronounced. How could they not be?

When you view the investments you have made through this particular filter, it becomes easier to distinguish which ones were truly worth your while and which ones were a flight of fancy that cost you heavily.

At the outset, life feels infinite. As it passes, it becomes incredibly precious, making us miserly in our daily allocations, and perhaps more frugal in our choices, long term.

If this musing catches you at a younger age, heed this one carefully. The choices you make that are paid for in time, are your most costly investments, regardless of the capital expenditure. Contemplate the options as would fit within your world and ask yourself if those are the ones you would pay most dearly for. If the answer is overwhelmingly yes… then listen to Goethe….

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Happy Thursday!

If you like what you are reading in the blog, you will even love the book more. Take a free preview below and watch the Sizzle Reel. It will give you a sense of how this book might be of help in your life when you are looking to make some tough decisions.

Specially priced at $11.11 for those who are tuned in.

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Written by Brian Weiner
When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!