You Think Time is Money, but You’re Wrong.

Last week, Chris and I hosted a webinar to help racers understand the difference between a racer resume, sponsorship deck, and proposal. If you missed it and you’re foggy on the concept, we recorded it and you can watch the recording here.

During the Q&A at the end of the session, we got on the topic of content creation. One of the racers shared that he had stepped outside of his comfort zone and started taking selfie-videos of himself doing what, to him, seemed like ordinary tasks. He shared that it was difficult and uncomfortable at first, but it got easier over time. Just by adding these videos, he’s seen a tremendous difference in his fan following. They’re more engaged and eager to support him.

Another racer chimed in that between her day-job, caring for her kids, and running her day-to-day life, she doesn’t have the time to create social media content. In that moment, I saw the disconnect.

I know you’ve heard the phrase, “Time is money.” I’m here to tell you, it’s not. Time is far, far more valuable than money. Think about it – with some radical changes, you could make more money. You may not like it, you might not want to make the changes required to do so, but you could make more money. People do it all the time. Time, however, is a resource of which you will never receive more. From the day you’re born until the day you die, you’ll only ever be able to make the most of 24 hours in a single day. Tell me then, which is a scarcer resource? Which is worth more? I’d argue that time is worth far more than money.

When I heard these exchanges in our Q&A – one racer saying that content was providing a huge return, and another saying they didn’t have time to make content – it made me think about how racers need to start budgeting their time like they do their money: by placing it where it provides the most return.

Let’s put this into terms of dollars instead of hours. Imagine you’ve got a $100 budget and you can spend it in one of two ways:

1. You could spend $100 on a celebratory dinner at a restaurant after a race.
2. You could spend that same $100 on hiring a social media manager to create a week’s worth of engaging posts for your social media platforms.

Which one would grow your race program more? What would you do if we were talking about an hour of time instead of $100?

Now, let’s take this a step further. Think about every task you do in a day. Are you spending your time on activities that will move your race program forward? Or are you spending it on things that don’t provide a return?

Every minute you spend on something that doesn’t contribute to your goals is a minute you can’t get back. It’s a minute that could have been invested in creating content, engaging with fans, or improving your skills. Just like with money, you need to be strategic about where you invest your time.

Start by identifying the activities that provide the highest return on investment for your race program. Is it creating content? Engaging with sponsors? Training? Once you know what these activities are, prioritize them. Schedule time for them just like you would for a meeting or a race.

Remember, time is your most valuable resource. Use it wisely, and you’ll see the returns in your race program.