What is the most expensive thing in the world? Is it the Kohinoor diamond? Ambani’s Antilia? Or perhaps something even more extravagant? Surprisingly, the answer is none of the above. The most expensive thing in the world is your time.

Time is the only thing you’re born with. You don’t come into this world with money, property, or possessions, – just time. And it’s the only thing that cannot be reversed or replaced. One of my favorite lines of all time is from Tony Stark: “No amount of money ever bought a second of time.”

Time is the only currency in the world that’s real, yet so few of us truly understand its value. We believe money, gold, or material wealth to be the main currencies that drive the world. But in truth, the world has always run on time—it always has, and it always will.

The True Cost of Things

We often think we trade money for the things we buy, but the reality is that we trade time. Imagine buying an iPhone for ₹1.5 lakhs. Sure, that’s the monetary cost, but what about the cost in time?

Let’s say you earn ₹30,000 a month and work 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. That’s roughly 200 hours of work per month. To afford that phone, you’re effectively trading 1,000 hours of your professional life—that’s nearly 5 months of work if you’re buying it in cash. And if it’s on EMI, the cost in time only increases with interest.

Can you see the real cost now? It’s not just money you’re spending—it’s your life.

Time: Your Greatest Asset

The purpose of this conversation isn’t to guilt you into counting how much your belongings cost in terms of time. It’s to make you aware of the greatest asset you will ever own: your time. And to remind you that it’s not necessary to trade it for things that don’t truly matter.

For me, life has always been about one thing: gaining control over the only thing that is truly mine, my time. I hate the idea of trading my time for something I don’t care about. I firmly believe that if I want to sit around and do nothing, it should be my decision, not someone else’s.

That’s the only thing I chase, and the only thing I will ever chase: the freedom to spend my time as I please. Because at the end of the day, we should be in charge of our time, not someone else.

Don’t Sell Your Time Cheaply

Even if you’re selling your time—because, let’s face it, we all do—don’t sell it cheap. Make it worth it. Make it count. Use it to build something meaningful, enjoy it, or invest it in experiences that truly matter to you.

Time is the one currency that defines everything else. Spend it wisely.