Balance Money, Energy & Time

If only it were that simple...we dont need an entire substack dedicated to it!!

How did I chance upon this topic of Balance??

Once upon a time, I was living the dream in Amsterdam: cutting deals at the bank by day, juggling a toddler's tantrums and late-night diaper duty. The city had tulips, canals, and stroopwafels; I had ambition, a well-pressed suit, and a boss who thought I could “go places.” Turns out, those “places” included a company-mandated offsite for “personal growth.” You know the type—half pep talk, half group therapy, with just enough pastries to keep the participants from revolting.

Day two of this introspection, we were hit with the question: “What would your epitaph say?”

I laughed nervously. Epitaphs? Really? I was in my early 30s, which in banker years is practically infancy. The only thing on my mind was getting promoted, not, you know, dying. But the facilitator, who had the serene, slightly smug look of someone who ate too much kale, wasn’t letting me off the hook.

“Think about it,” he said. “What legacy do you want to leave behind?”

So I did. At first, my thoughts were superficial. “Herein lies Ramkey, Always knew the difference between Pinot Noir and Pinot Grigio”!!

But then, something weird happened. That question clung to me like the smell of overripe cheese in a Dutch market. I started going down a rabbit hole of self-reflection. What would people remember about me? The PowerPoint wizardry? My ability to survive budget meetings without crying? Would anyone even remember I was here?

I went deeper. I researched “regrets of the dying” (very cheerful, I know). And the results…..They hit me harder than a double espresso on an empty stomach:

That simple question in an offsite kept me grappling with questions that my 30 something life had been too busy to ask before.

What was I chasing? Was I being the parent, partner or even the person I wanted to be?

Fast forward to now, and I still don’t have all the answers. But I’ve learned to ask better questions. That epitaph exercise wasn’t just a corporate gimmick; it was a wake-up call.

The deeper I dug, I kept coming back to 3 things….

Money, Time & Energy (Health)

We want more money (initially), and have more energy (during our life) and maan, do we wish we had more time (ultimately). And this happens all the time (pun intended)!!

If I had more time, I would do this…

If I had more money, I would be happy..

If I had better health and more energy, I would travel…

Interestingly, what I have noticed is that most of us do not give importance to all these 3 things at the same time. We seem to focus on one aspect at the detriment of the other two …and thereby, lead an imbalanced life.

Let me explain..

Let us split our lives into 3 parts (yes, I love the ability to focus on 3 things!!).

Youth 0-30 years; Middle 31-60 years and Experienced 61-90 years.

Now let’s map how much most of us have in these 3 phases..

When we are young, we have lots of time, high energy but very little money.

We spend our middle age, chasing the one thing we don’t have - Money. This usually comes at a cost to our health and we never have time. But we ignore these two as we come from a place of scarcity.

During the "experienced” phase, most of us have lots of time, but the actions or inactions of the past 30 years catch up - we have low to no energy with lots of health issues and slowly but surely our time is ending!!

Source: Die with Zero, author Bill Perkins

Please note that the above illustration is merely a representation of what I have seen in common.

Coming back to my epitaph, while I may not have my legacy fully figured out, I’m fairly certain my tombstone won’t say “Herein lies Ramkey, who aced every quarterly report”. And even if it did, I would insist they chisel it in Comic Sans and a little bit of stroopwafel/jalebi carved into the corner - just so people would know I wasn’t entirely insufferable!!

How balanced is your life?? What are you doing about finding balance?

I would love to hear your experiences; do write to me.

Starting next week, I will be dwelling deeper into each of these areas - Money, Energy & Time. After all how can we get balanced, if we do not understand each component..right?

Next week, I will start with the first topic - Money and dwell on the foundations of Personal Finance. See you then and till then ….stay curious and if you can, work on what your epitaph would say!