Lets Face Facts!

Not to be morbid about it but the reality is that the average lifespan of an adult in the UK is ~80 years.

There are some regional fluctuations but lets use 80 years as the average.

Think about this though – this is only 4000 weeks long! (ok, so i have rounded a year to 50 weeks but you get the idea).

So how old are you?  I mean in weeks and not years.

So, for example, if you are 50 years old then you are ~2500 weeks old. So that means, on average, that you have got ~1500 weeks remaining.  Right now you are probably thinking OMG! That’s Nuts – I never thought of it like that!

The question is – what are you going to do with the time you have left?

You have your whole life ahead of you!

When we are born and are presented to friends and family as the newest addition to the human race there are usually lots of comments like …...’awww, so cute!’ and ‘awww – so lucky to have your whole life ahead of you‘.  We have all heard it and maybe even said it ourselves.  The thing is, the same is true for you – you have your whole life ahead of you right now – what are you going to do with it?

The older we get the more we have a tendency to almost concede defeat and stop believing that we can achieve our goals, like its too late to start thinking about goals now and when we are younger, we think we have all the time in the world.

Neither of these statements is true!

What am I working with here?

Right, back to the 1500 weeks you have left.  Lets break this down a bit more.

At what age are you planning on retiring? You know – enjoying some travelling, relaxing, ticking off the bucket list items and hanging up the work clothes never to be used again! Everyone is different of course but If we say 65 years is the age you have chosen.  That means that you have (again on average) ~750 weeks of retirement ahead of you and ~750 weeks of your working life to go.

How did we work that out…

  • Average Lifespan – Retirement Age = Number of retirement weeks (80 – 65 = 15 * 50 weeks = 750 weeks)
  • Retirement Age – Current Age = Total Working Time remaining (65 – 50 = 15 * 50 weeks = 750 weeks)

Breaking this down a bit more…

We all need to have rest, nobody can go for 24 hours every day, and if we consider we need to have approximately 8 hours per day to sleep, that means we have only got 2 thirds of this time to be as productive as we can.

  • Total Working Time Remaining * 2/3 = Future Building Time (750 *2/3 = 500 weeks)

This is a Maximum too and, sorry to say, the story gets worse from here!  If you consider how much time on average you spend doing non-productive things like;

  • Watching TV
  • Surfing the Internet
  • Facebook / Social Media
  • Driving
  • Procrastinating perhaps?

You get the idea right – all of this is eating into your FBT!

If you are feeling brave, add all of this together and work out your eFBT (enhanced FBT) – Warning!  This is not for the fainthearted!

FBT Formula…

OK, So that’s all a bit mathematical (maybe a bit grim too – sorry) but here’s the completed formula for you to plug your own numbers into:

(4000 – Current Age (in weeks) – Number of retirement weeks ) *2/3 = Future Building Time (in weeks)

Example Numbers from above:

(4000 – (50*50) – (15*50)) *2/3 = 500 weeks

 

So, …….. What’s your Number?

 

Perspective is Everything!

Depending on your age your perspective on the use of your time is going to be different,  and I get that.

If you are younger you may think  you have time to spare – You don’t! If you are older and have less time available you may be thinking – what’s the point!

Well, its never too late and you may be one of the lucky ones and live till your are 100 and you will wish you had just got started!

Right now (not tomorrow – not once you have used up another week) is the time to get going!

Stick your FBT number on your wall and challenge yourself every day and week to be as productive as you can!

 

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