#42 People Will Steal Your Time

People will steal your time every day and not think twice about it.

When I was a personal trainer, I would be booked from five in the morning till eight at night, plus half a day on Saturday.  Sometimes people would stand me up or not show up.  I didn’t really know what to do in this situation because I was still learning the ropes.  An hour of training was supposed to yield me X amount, but instead I was getting zero.

The Stiff Arm

As this happened over and over again, it started to piss me off when people would skip.  It was all take, take, take.  No relationship.  They were trying to take my knowledge and my time.

I started stiff arming motherfuckers.  I look at it like this…  I know what my time's worth.  I can do the calculations.  How many times per day and what I make in a year.  I know what I’m worth. 

If we have zero previous relationship and offer zero value of any kind, then don’t think that you’re going to steal my fucking time.  I may sound like a dick, but it’s just the truth.  And I'll tell you why.  If I'm going to spend an hour of time where there's nothing based around it, I'd rather spend that time with my family because I'm a busy ass dude.  I'm already working a bunch of hours, barely sleeping, and training.  Then, if somebody is going to steal my time, talk about a bunch of fucking nonsense, or it's only a take, take, take environment, then why would I pick that over throwing the baseball with my kid?  Or watching my daughter practice volleyball?

You see what I'm saying?  You have to understand what’s valuable.  You don’t get this shit back.  It’s important.  I don't care whether you make fucking $5 an hour or $50,000 an hour, you have to value your time.  And that's why I always talk about operating like a Ninja.  I'm in and out early.

Giving Back

When you create a relationship with me, I'm always going to give back.  Whether it’s content, answering messages, or helping someone in need.  I'm a steward of my time.  It may sound a bit counterproductive with what I'm talking about, but at the end of the day, I'm talking about people that have intentions on just grabbing with no value.  You have to guard it.

When I create relationships, I will go over and above to try to help you, to try to teach, to move you into your house, or whatever the fuck you need help with.  It doesn't matter.  That's the key.  

Understand

If you’re trying to get around somebody, trying to learn, or trying to get their time, you better fucking know that they know how valuable it is.  Because if they've had any success, they have already done those calculations.  Make an offer when you go for the ask.  Is there anything that you can offer of value?  You know how many people have asked me that?

And I'll be like, you know what?  Why don't you come on out and do this or that?  Or stop by the gym for a little bit, let's see what kind of lifting you got.  Let's create a relationship.  You got to get through first base before you try to take me home and fuck me.  You know what I'm saying?  It doesn't work that way.  People were tripping on this.  They think because they tweet you one time that they should come out here and you can have dinner with them and tell them your business plan.  

If there are people you want to be around, you need to understand that they understand the value of their time.  They will not allow people to steal it.  You shouldn't allow people to steal it either because you should value your time too.

Both Sides

I just want you to understand this.  This is why I hate dealing with people that are late all the time.  I don't fucking do it.  I have hard stops with certain things.  And if you're late more than two or three times, motherfucker I'm not going to be there.  You understand?  Operate on both sides of the equation.  If you’re the person that’s always late, understand that you’re probably not going to be taken seriously.  Or, if you’re the person that’s always sitting there waiting, understand that someone is stealing your time.