The Return On Time; Why the Next Luxury Is Human Capability
For generations, wealth has been measured by what we owned, and then what we earned, but today, I wonder whether the real measure of wealth is becoming something else entirely, and something far more difficult to accumulate. Time.
Not simply having enough of it, we all have access to the same 24 hours in a day, but we don’t all have access to the same capacity to experience its potential, and herein lies an interesting journey into the next, or arguably, the ultimate, luxury.
Since the late 18th century we’ve moved through successive industrial revolutions that have transformed the way we produce, consume and communicate. Each promised, and delivered, greater efficiency and, with it, the possibility of creating more time. Yet, in many ways, the opposite seems to have happened.
As we find ourselves in the midst of the fifth industrial revolution, technology has made almost everything faster. AI can generate a business plan in the time it takes to send a What’s App, and my scarily good Instagram algorithm shows me products I want without searching for them, and they arrive the next day, sometimes even on the same day!
Information is now limitless and immediate, and yet many of us feel we have less time than ever. Whether this shortage is real or perceived doesn't matter. Our experience of time has changed, and with it, the value we place upon it, consciously or not.
One of the simplest principles in economics is that scarcity increases value. As time feels increasingly scarce, its perceived value continues to rise, exponentially in my personal opinion, and this is stress-inducing for many people, myself included. But I don't think the real story is about time per se, the supply is steady and fixed! I think it's far more about our understanding of how to enhance our capacity to experience it.
The experience of time is deeply personal. The same hour can feel expansive or disappear unnoticed. The same holiday can become deeply restorative or simply another form of exhaustion. The same dinner can strengthen a relationship or pass by in distracted conversation.
Time itself doesn’t change, but our experience of time does, relative to our state. In this context, the return on time is realised through the state of the person experiencing it.
A day experienced with clarity, vitality and presence is fundamentally different from the same day experienced through the lens of chronic stress, exhaustion or quiet survival, and yields a completely different return.
As time becomes increasingly scarce, and its return directly linked to the state of the person experiencing it, human capability becomes one of the most valuable investments we can make. In this sense, health and wellbeing become far more than personal aspirations, they’re foundational in order to optimise successful outcomes, in every and all situations, personal and professional, individually and collectively.
Investment in human capability, our biological, cognitive, emotional and relational capacity to engage fully with life, is essential to optimise the return on time.
For generations, we've largely thought about wealth in financial terms. Yet perhaps one of the greatest forms of wealth is the ability to experience the richness of the present moment. Not because we've accumulated more, but because we've cultivated the biological, psychological and emotional capacity to be fully present for it.
In that sense, wellbeing is no longer simply about preventing illness, it becomes the foundation upon which the value of time is realised, which has implications far beyond the individual.
For organisations, it raises questions about leadership, judgement and sustainable performance.
For family businesses and family offices, it raises questions about preserving the capability of those entrusted with stewarding wealth across generations.
For luxury hospitality, perhaps the greatest opportunity is no longer simply creating extraordinary environments, but helping people become more capable of experiencing those extraordinary environments, and their lives, than when they arrived.
For nations, it raises a much broader question, if human capability underpins innovation, creativity, productivity, resilience and social cohesion, should preserving and strengthening it become one of our greatest investments?
The future of luxury isn't another experience, it’s the capacity to experience time, and our life, to the fullest.
As someone who began my career in economics before moving into nutrition and integrative medicine, I find myself increasingly drawn back to the same question. How can we increase the return on the time we have?
Because having the capacity to experience the richness of the moment as our fullest self, and to enjoy the luxury of the present, requires investing in human capability in order to realise the highest return on time. And, who doesn’t want to feel like they are living their full potential and raison d'être? I know I do.
About the author
Dr Laura Holland is an advisor in preventative health and human capability, with a background in economics, nutrition and integrative medicine. Through BeU, she works privately with individuals, advises organisations, and writes about the future of health, behaviour and human flourishing.