When I was 42 I was helping a young man do some financial planning. I remember it so well because he was 24. I remember saying to him "the only difference between you and me are the numbers of our ages are reversed". He smiled curiously. I went on to tell him that the difference between the two numbers represented 18 years. I was looking back. He was looking ahead. I told him I wish someone would have shared this with me when I was his age, what I was sharing with him that night.

Numbers are interesting. We take them so for granted and don’t listen to their wisdom.

My nephew Brian just turned 30. He sent me an email thanking me for the ecard I sent him. As I thought about him and how young he is I began to feel philosophical and wrote him this little bit of wisdom. "Here's something to think about.  Reversing numbers on your birthday can be quite interesting.  Last time these numbers affected your age was when you were 03 years old.  Look at what has happened in those 27 years.  Amazing isn't it?  You only get to look backward in your thirties when you are 30, 31 and 32.   These are reflecting years from ages 3, 13, and 23.  At 33 you get to neither look backward or forward.  It is a time to evaluate and see if you like where you are.   From age 34 through 39 you are looking ahead to 43, 53, 63, 73, 83, 93.  These are planning years. Think about it." The really interesting thing is the older your get the more time you spend looking backwards. Try it with the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, etc.

I used to tell people when I was in financial planning that time is our greatest asset yet we spend 100% of every day, every day.  There is no carryover. 1,440 minutes gone daily. They seem to go so fast. They just seem to fly by. It’s easy to take them for granted and waste them. We never seem to have enough time. Try this – sit still for the next five minutes and don’t do anything but wait. It will give you a whole new perspective of how much time a day really is. One day at a time really means something.