Life is investment. You have limited time and energy, and you're deciding what to accumulate. Some people watch their savings grow and feel secure. Others bet on stocks and index funds, convinced capital markets hold the real game. Some buy houses and cars. Others invest in experiences -- refusing to own property and living out of Airbnbs in different cities. Some value relationships, always having someone to call. Others wake at dawn to jog, meditate in the mountains, treating their body and health as the asset that matters most. Each way of living reflects a value judgment about what will compound and thus what to invest in. The problem is the same problem every investor faces: you cannot know the future value of what you're buying today. Will the money matter when you're seventy? Will the experiences turn out to be a waste of time, or give you actual stories to tell? You need good judgment about value -- both for now and future. Most people inherit their portfolio from their parents or copy their peers. They never question whether they're accumulating the right things, because everyone around them is accumulating the same things. The tricky part: You only develop that judgment by making investments and living with the consequences. Place bets, wait, see what compounds, notice when you're wrong. I look at what I'm accumulating—the hours I spend, the things I chase—and honestly I'm not 100% sure if any of it will matter in the future. But I always try to put my limited time and life into the areas that do. Oftentimes it's hard because you have to say no to lots of pressures and temptations. But still. Life is an investment of limited time, so you decide.