How to Spend Your Time Wisely for Success | Life-Changing Advice | @ThrivefyGlobal | Jack Ma

0:02 Hello everyone. I'm Jack Ma and today I want to talk to you about something that has completely changed my life and can completely change yours too. It's not money. It's not luck. It's not some secret billionaire code. It's time. Yes, time. The only resource that everyone has in equal amount every single day. Rich people, poor people, smart people, not so smart people, all of us get 24 hours a day. But here's the funny part. Some people spend their 24 hours getting richer, getting healthier, getting smarter, getting stronger, while others spend their 24 hours on TikTok learning how to make noodles with firecrackers. What are you doing, my friend? So, today I want to ask you a simple but powerful question. Are you spending your time to make yourself better? Or are you spending your time to make someone else

0:48 richer while you stay the same? Let's talk about it. When I was young, and I mean very young, I had no money, no connections, no good grades. I failed in school so many times I thought the word fail was part of my name. Jack fail ma. But the one thing I had time and I realized early if I don't use my time wisely, I will always be poor. If you don't learn how to spend time improving yourself, you will always work for someone who does. Let me say that again. If you don't learn how to spend time improving yourself, you will always work for someone who does. And that's not a bad thing. But if you want freedom, if you want growth, if you want change, then you must respect your time like you respect money. Better yet, respect it more than money. You can lose money and

1:35 get it back. But once time is gone, boom, it's gone. You cannot rewind. You can't press kit paz on life, my friend. This is not Microsoft Word. Many young people today say things like, "I need work life balance. I need to rest. I need vacation. I deserve it. Wait, wait, wait. What are you balancing? Are you balancing poverty and laziness? When I was in my 20s and 30s, I didn't have balance. I had urgency. Every day I told myself, Jack, if you don't get better, you will be stuck. No one is coming to rescue you. No magic fairy is dropping money from the sky. Your only weapon is you, your mind, your skills, your habits. Let me give you a funny example. If you are broke and you say, "I'm going to relax this weekend, go clubbing, spend time with friends, enjoy life." But Jeff Bezos is in his office reading

2:21 books about quantum computing. Elon Musk is watching videos about rockets and physics. Oprah is interviewing psychologists about human behavior. Do you see what's happening? You are partying. They are preparing. That's why they're billionaires. And that's why you are looking for Wi-Fi in Starbucks. Don't get me wrong. Enjoy life, but don't overce celebrate your average life. Work hard now so you can rest later. Don't rest now and suffer later. Let me ask you, if your boss fired you today, could you survive? If Instagram disappears today, can your business still exist? If they remove your university degree, can you still bring value to the market? That's the real question. You see, school gave you a paper, a certificate, but life doesn't care about certificates. Life cares about skills. If you know how to sell,

3:08 you'll never be broke. If you know how to write, you'll always find a way. If you know how to think, you'll always create value. And here's the good news. Skills are free to learn. YouTube is free. Google is free. Libraries are free. Free courses everywhere. The only thing stopping you is Netflix. And your relationship with Tik Tok. Every time you say, "I don't have time." Check your screen time. Don't lie to yourself. You're not tired. You're just distracted. Spend one hour a day learning something new and in one year you will be smarter than 99% of your friends. Let me be honest, the world is moving fast, very fast. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics, digital transformation. If you are not growing, you are falling behind. It's like being on an escalator that's moving

3:53 downward. If you just stand still, you go down. The only way to go up is to climb every day, even if it's slow. One of my favorite sayings is success is not about giant leaps. It's about small steps taken every day. You don't need to read 50 books today. Just read 10 pages. You don't need to become a millionaire in one month. Just save $10 a day. You don't need to be perfect. Just be consistent. This one is very important. You want success, you want greatness, then stop chasing excitement. Start embracing boredom. The real magic happens when no one is watching. You think I became successful by doing exciting things every day? No. Most of my success came from doing boring things again and again. Writing emails, learning English vocabulary, reading business books, practicing presentations

4:40 in front of the mirror. Very boring, but very necessary. If you can do boring things with discipline, your life will become exciting. But if you only chase exciting things, your life will become boring. Big difference. Some of you will say, "But Jack, I'm not a morning person." Let me tell you, success doesn't care if you're a morning person or a night owl. But discipline does. If you wake up every day with no plan, no goal, no learning, you are just existing, not living. I always tell young people, wake up before your excuses do. If your excuse wakes up at 8:00 a.m., you better be awake by 7:30. If your laziness starts talking at 9:00 a.m., shut it down at 8:00. Show your mind who's the boss. You want a better life, you must fight for it every day. Success is not given, it is earned. With habits, with sweat, with pain. Look around you. Who are your friends? Are

5:26 they talking about investments or only gossip? Are they discussing ideas or just complaining? Are they pushing you to grow or pulling you down with mediocrity? If your circle is not helping you grow, then your circle is your cage. And here's the trick. You don't have to be rude. Just be busy. When they say, "Hey, let's hang out." Say, "Sorry, I'm busy learning Python." When they say, "Let's go for drinks," say, "No thanks. I'm attending a webinar." They will laugh now, but in five years, they will say, "How did you become successful?" You'll say, "Remember all those times I was busy? That's how motivation is like a shower. You need it daily, but it doesn't last. Discipline is like muscle. You build it over time and it stays strong. You think I was motivated every day when I started Alibaba? No way. I was scared. I was

6:12 confused. I was broke. But I had discipline. I woke up. I worked. I failed. I repeated every day. Some people say, "I'm waiting for the right time." Let me tell you, the right time is now. There is no perfect time to start. There's only today, and today is expensive. Don't waste it. Imagine your future self. The version of you 5 years from now, healthier, wealthier, wiser, successful. Now, imagine that version of you can see everything you're doing today. Would they be proud of you? Or would they say, "Why are you watching cat videos again? Every time you feel lazy, think about this. Your future self is cheering for you. Don't let them down. Now, don't take life too seriously. Laugh a little. Enjoy the process. Make fun of your failures. Tell stories. Dance sometimes, even if you dance like a confused chicken, but don't

6:59 stop learning. You can be funny and focused. You can be happy and hungry for growth. You can be broke today, but you better be busy. Busy getting better. Because the most dangerous thing in life is not poverty. It's staying the same. So, my friend, what are you going to do with your time? Watch more drama or write your own story, scroll endlessly or study intentionally, make excuses or make progress? You are not born to be average. You are not born to just pay bills and die. You are born to create, to build, to grow, to inspire. But you must choose it every day. Use your time like a weapon, like a tool, like a ladder. Spend time to make yourself better. And the world will become better with you. And if you ever feel discouraged, just remember what I always say. Today is hard. Tomorrow is harder.

7:46 But the day after tomorrow is beautiful. Most people die on tomorrow. Don't die on tomorrow, my friend. Live for the beautiful future. It's waiting for you. Thank you very much. [Music]