The Thousand Dollar Cup of Coffee

If I asked you the question, “how much for an hour of your time?” would you know the answer to that question without thinking? If I were a betting man I would lay odds that most of you reading this wouldn’t have a clue. And after putting some thought into it would still not be confident in your 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 1 out of every 10 people respond with a confident answer.

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 of mine, Ron Lynch founder of Big Baby Agency, is "Sounds great I charge one thousand dollars to grab coffee for an hour'. Now… you might be thinking ‘holy crap, $1k 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.

Let’s take a second to break down the "1k 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 $1k 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 paid what I am worth I make sure to give you my full attention and power to accomplish the most in that hour. Two forces coming together over a period of time….

To get to the $1k/hour value mindset I have my clients go through a simple weekly routine that takes less than one hour to complete. 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.

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.

Now for the fun part. Start looking back on your past week and think of all the tasks you did. From 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 ask ‘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, mediation, speaking at events or going on adventures. You might have someone that mows your lawn for $60 but it’s not over a $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 only bring value to your life. This does not happen over night and will take time but I challenge you to do this every Friday until you start making those changes in your life and business.

Thank you so much for reading and sharing,

Joshua B Lee

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