The Hidden Cost of Everything: Your Life Energy
Issue #126: What Is Life Energy—and Why You Should Guard It Like Gold.
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Last year, I picked up a book called Die with Zero—and it completely changed how I think about time, money, and what really matters.
It’s full of powerful ideas that push you to use your time and money with more intention. Less chasing. More living.
One idea from it has been looping in my head ever since.
Life Energy!
Basically, it’s this:
Money is not just money.
It’s your time.
Your focus.
Your limited energy.
Your actual life.
Every dollar you earn costs you time.
Every dollar you spend = a slice of your life.
It hit me hard.
So I started doing this thing — whenever I see something I want to buy, I do a quick mental calculation:
“How many hours of my life am I trading for this?”
And once you see it this way…
You can’t unsee it.
What Is Life Energy?
Life Energy is the energy you spend to earn money.
And the energy you give away when you spend it.
Let me break it into two parts.
1. Earning money costs life energy.
Every time you work — whether it’s writing code, running a business, sitting in meetings, or managing teams — you’re spending part of your one short life.
In the book, there’s a story of a woman named Elizabeth. She had saved $130,000 by the time she passed away. Sounds responsible, right?
Until you realize she earned about $19.56/hour.
That means she traded 6,646 hours of her life — over 2.5 years of full-time work — for money she never even got to enjoy.
2. Spending money also costs life energy.
Say you make $25/hour after taxes.
That $100 you spent on random Amazon stuff?
That’s 4 hours of your life.
It’s not just “stuff.” It’s time.
Even with food. The author jokes that whenever he sees a cookie, he asks himself:
“Is this cookie worth one more hour on the treadmill?”
It’s funny. But also… kinda real.
Because the minute you start asking yourself questions like that, you become more thoughtful.
You stop living on autopilot.
How I Use This in My Life
I’m 38 now and, if I’m lucky enough to live to 100, I’ve got around 543,120 hours of life left.
That number hit me.
It’s completely changed how I think about spending and saving.
Just the other day, I caught myself browsing the Apple Vision Pro and the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2.
Old me would’ve jumped at it.
Now? I pause and ask —
“Am I okay trading X hours of my life for this?”
Sometimes the answer is yes.
Other times, I skip it.
It’s not about guilt. It’s about awareness.
I've also started looking at things not just by their price tag — but by how long they’ll actually matter to me.
A shoes I’ll wear 365 times? That might be worth it.
An AirPod that I’ll use every day to listen to audiobooks and podcasts? Sure!
A random gadget I’ll use twice and forget? Not so much.
Eating a 200-calorie donut just to bike for an hour to burn it off? No thanks.
Don’t Take It Too Far
This doesn’t mean you stop working or never spend a dime again.
I love working. And I plan to keep going.
But I’ve also realized this:
You don’t need as much money as you think to live a rich life.
Most of us are just guessing. So we overwork and oversave.
Working with a good financial planner can help. They can tell you how much you actually need — not some vague number you read on the internet.
And when you do spend?
Spend on things that give you something back.
Not just in the moment — but for years.
Spend on experiences that give you what the book calls a Memory Dividend.
The trip you took with your family.
The weekend away with your closest friends.
Going on a Yoga/Meditation retreat.
Those things don’t fade. They get richer with time.
Action
Here’s what I’d recommend trying this week:
Calculate your real hourly rate.
(Take your after-tax income, divide it by hours worked.)Track your spending for 3 days.
Then next to each thing you bought, write how many hours it cost you.Ask yourself:
“Was it worth the trade?”Talk to a financial planner.
Even one session can give you more clarity than 10 years of guessing.Choose experiences over stuff.
Spend where your future self will thank you.
Because in the end, you’re not just trying to make money.
You’re trying to make a life.
And that life deserves to be spent wisely.
🚀 Growth Tip
You should check out this video where Ali Abdaal breaks down the entire book and explains the concept of "Life Energy" in a super clear, relatable way.
🤩 Inspiration
"Don’t give people everything—just give them what they truly want."
When we love or deeply care about someone, our natural instinct is to give them everything we’ve got.
But one thing I’ve learned this year is—they don’t need it all.
They just need what matters to them.
Focus on that. Give with intention, not overload.
👋 Until next time, Anil / CEO and Co-Founder of Multidots, Multicollab, and Dotstore.
May the Peaceful Growth be with you! 🪴
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