4 Currencies of Life

I came across this article written by Jeremy where he talks about that we have four currencies, four things we can use, invest, manage, and exchange. They are our Time, our Money, our Energy, and our Ability. The classical understanding of stewardship also is similar in defining stewardship as the management of our time, talent, and treasures. The balances of these currencies fluctuate with life’s seasons for each of us.

What’s interesting about these currencies is that they don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re interrelated. Each one requires varying degrees of effort to manage, and each one can negatively or positively impact another.

Jeremy’s point is that as humans in general, and investors specifically, we’ve got a whole lot more to manage than just our Money. And it is an ongoing management plan – things change, sometimes really quickly.

If you find yourself getting stuck, it’s super helpful to step back and look at the currencies of your life and see which, if any, are running low. And then think about ways you can try and bring it back up, even if it means dipping into another currency’s present excess.

The easiest currency to focus on is Money. Money is, arguably, the most renewable of the four. It’s also the most flexible – it can be used to buy more time, gain more energy, and build more Abilities. And that increase in Time, Energy, and Ability can then be used to acquire more Money if we’d like them to.

Jeremy thinks a reason why we talk and focus so much on money is that it’s the most concrete, and it’s the easiest one to measure. And it’s a good starting point, but don’t stop there.

If we want to live a life that manifests our true values – our true goals and intentions – we need to pay attention to all the currencies and manage them wisely.