Two Skills Have Made Me a Time Billionaire — They’ve Taken a Lifetime to Master
Here’s how to master them in the next 3 months, so you can have more time to do things you love.
Without time, you’re broke in the true sense of the word.
Time buys you experiences. Experiences are far more meaningful than consumer goods you’ll take for granted in a week.
In 2021 I became a time billionaire. I quit my job to have more time. I chose the prospect of less money and a resume with a huge career gap, to play with time, to see what I could create.
A solid understanding of money is often what’s credited for the transition to a time billionaire life.
Not for me.
Two skills are far more powerful. You’re about to learn a superpower that time billionaires like Paul Graham, Naval Ravikant, and Tim Ferriss use. Let’s go.
The overlooked skill that gives you loads of free time
The first skill is the power of saying no. Most of us know how to say no, yet we suck at it and pretend we’re good.
I’m a serial offender. I’m desperate to be the nice guy. I want to help everybody. When someone ghosts me it crushes my heart into a million pieces.
The danger with saying “No” is that you become an a-hole.
People say no to my requests all the time. Often they do it in a rude way, or in a way that makes them sound like they’re trying to be too careful. I feel used and abused. It can even feel selfish a lot of the time.
If you don’t master the right way to say no, you will burn relationships.
You need humans to solve problems and earn a living, so you’ve got to be more careful. Self-awareness is the tool you need.
Are you good at saying no? How do you currently say no? Score yourself from 1-10.
Three ingredients needed for a powerful “No.”
- Logical
- Polite
- Kind
You need the second powerful skill (or the first skill is useless)
This second skill creates “No” sex.
Different situations require different noes. If you’re a pro then you probably have “No” templates. I do. I thought mine were great. They’re not.
Believe it or not, there is an entire academy on how to say no, owned by entrepreneur Pat Walls. Pat taught me that the second skill you need is to crowdsource ideas from other people.
Too often we try to figure stuff out on our own and end up wanting to give up. Learn from people smarter than you. That’s what you must do to master the power of no and get back your precious time.
Here are the best NO templates I stole from Pat (who also stole them):
1. How to say no to a meeting — Naval Ravikant
Hey {{ first_name }},
Just want to be upfront, so I don’t waste your time because I value you [second half is my addition].
I don’t do non-transactional meetings. I don’t do meetings without a strict agenda. I don’t do meetings unless we absolutely have to.
Naval
2. How to say no on principle — Tim Ferriss
John, thanks so much for reaching out and apologies for my delayed response.
I have been trying to do too much of late, which makes it hard to keep up with correspondence. I also have to admit I am not good at saying no, because I enjoy meeting people and discussing new ideas.
Unfortunately, the truth is that I am maxed out and need to take a step back.
Over the next few months, I will not be taking any new calls or meetings outside of my existing commitments to my business, family and myself. This will give me the energy and time I need to complete some big projects (such as finishing my second book) and be more successful in reaching my most important goals.
This is my blanket policy until I am caught up.
Thanks in advance for your understanding.
Tim Ferriss
3. How to say no to a written interview — James Clear
Hi Pat,
First, thank you so much for thinking of me for this opportunity! Unfortunately, my calendar is completely full right now so I’m not going to be able to do this.
I can offer my work as an alternative. You are welcome to share quotes from Atomic Habits or my articles with your audience. I know this isn’t quite what you were hoping for, but I’d like to think that this work will be useful to your audience all the same.
I’m sorry I don’t have better news. Thank you for understanding and I wish you continued success.
James Clear
4. How to say no to a phone call (keep things over email/DM) — Paul Graham
Hey {{ first_name }},
What do you want to talk about?
Paul
Paul ignores the requester’s original question and continues the conversation in the format he prefers. When the person responds to the question they’ve effectively asked it without the need for a phone call. Magic!
5. How I say no to podcasts
Hi,
It means a lot that you would ask and thanks for supporting my work.
Unfortunately, the only format I do is written form. I’m not a great speaker so I stick to my strengths.
Happy to recommend other guests that may be better suited.
Tim Denning
The path to becoming a time billionaire
These two skills have been crucial to my transition away from the busy life known as time bankruptcy.
The biggest time drain in my last job was meetings. They lasted for a minimum of an hour and often became 2-hour discussions. Because my big head had to be present on these Zoom calls, I couldn’t do anything else.
Often, I didn’t need to say a word.
But the culture was to respect those with fancy job titles. Not showing up to pointless meetings was a sign of disrespect.
I would try to say no and fail. I realized my weakness and need to please. That’s when I began rethinking how I say no. I learned to make my noes logical. When you have a good reason not to have your time taken up, people accept it because to do anything else would be rude.
I also noticed my noes at work were too blunt. The way I got around the problem was to be unselfish. I began to look at requests from the other person’s perspective.
I learned to genuinely make the other person feel good as I said no. When a person makes us feel good we’re less likely to get pissed at a sudden no.
As more of my time became free I used it to work on things I love, like writing online and running an academy.
The extra focus in these two areas eventually gave me the foundation to quit corporate life and 100% own my calendar, without having my days outsourced to corporate monkeys.
The bottom line
The currency you secretly want the most in life is time, not money.
Even if you have time, if you don’t get good at saying no it will get wasted. Rethink how you say no.
Crowdsource templates from people smarter than you to level up your rejection skills like a badass. It takes 90 days to start seeing the extra time show up in your calendar as a result of the noes.
A request is an option, not an obligation.
If you knew tomorrow you’d die, you’d say no today. That’s the mindset that leads you to become a time billionaire.
Join my email list with 50K+ people for more helpful insights.
