This Is Your Path to the $1,000-Per-Hour Mindset If you don't value your time, who will?
By Joshua Lee Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
If I asked you the question "How much for an hour of your time?" would you reflexively know the answer? If I were a betting man, I would lay odds that almost everyone reading this wouldn't have a clue. And after putting some thought into it, most would still not be confident in their answer.
I know this because I have asked this question hundreds of times. Over the course of my speaking and coaching career when asking this question, I'm lucky if one in 10 people responds with a confident answer.
Related: Know Your Value and Get Paid More
So why is it so important to know the value of your time? If you don't set your value, then other people will set it for you.
Don't let others devalue your time.
Decide what an hour of your time is worth, or you will never properly be able to provide the value your clients deserve.
As a coach and consultant, I often get asked, "Can I pick your brain over a cup of coffee?" Or "Can we jump on a quick call? I would love to get your advice." My answer, thanks to an amazing friend and mentor Ron Lynch, founder of Big Baby Agency, is "Sounds great. I charge $1,000 to grab coffee for an hour." Now, you might be thinking, Holy crap, $1,000 just for a cup of coffee! Yes friends, that is the cost, and I have been paid this time and time again. I know both the value of my time and the value I can give in that time when paid what I am worth.
Why that's true.
Let's take a second to break down the "1,000 cup of coffee" and why it works. We have all heard that a diamond is formed when massive pressure is placed on a piece of coal, over time. The same is true too when I sit down with someone over coffee.
If that person commits to a $1,000 investment in their own success, they are attentive, focused and determined to get as much value out of that hour as they possibly can. If I'm being paid what I am worth, I give them my full attention and focus all my power on accomplishing the maximum amount in that hour. Two intense forces coming together over a period of time forms ….
Related: 6 Ways to Make Sure Every Meeting Is a Productive One
To get to the $1,000/hour value mindset, I have my clients go through a simple weekly routine that takes less than one hour. By going through this, the mindset shift occurs much faster since you are proactively evaluating your time on a weekly basis. Let me teach you the building blocks of this exercise.
Map your week.
First, I want you to take a piece of paper and turn it sideways. Next make four columns. At the top of each of the four columns, I want you to write $10, $100, $1K, $10K. Here's the fun part: Start looking back on your past week and think of all the tasks you did: answering emails, mowing your lawn, working with clients, doing the dishes, playing with your kids, etc.
As you think of these tasks, I want you to write them down in one of the four columns based on what you would be willing to pay someone else to do this tasks for you. Now you might wonder, Where the hell is $10K/hour going to come into play anywhere in my life? Well, this is the column you put tasks in that you can not quantify: tasks that bring value to you that you can not put a price on.
For me that is playing with my kids, working out, meditating, speaking at events or going on adventures. To clarify further, you might have someone that mows your lawn for $60, but it's not over $100, so it would still go in the $10/hour column.
When you do this, you'll begin to see the valuation of your time. The goal is to move tasks in $10 and $100 columns off your plate so you can concentrate on the $1K and $10K tasks that you are designed for and that only bring value to your life. This does not happen overnight. It will take time, but I challenge you to do this every Friday until you start making those changes in your life and business.
