The "Finite Math" That Changes How You Prioritize Everything

Why a simple calculation about your remaining time with loved ones makes every choice crystal clear.

THE CALCULATION THAT STOPS YOU COLD

If your parents have eight more years to live, and you see them twice annually, you have exactly 16 visits left.

Maybe 32 meaningful conversations. Maybe 16 chances to say what really matters.

When you frame relationships as a math problem, that missed call because you're "too busy" transforms into something darker. You're choosing to waste one of your finite opportunities.

This calculation hit me during a dinner with a friend who'd sold his company for over nine figures. I asked him what he'd do differently, and his answer came without hesitation.

"Don't miss the little things."

Time with your family. Time with your kids. Time with your loved ones.

That conversation triggered math I wish I'd done years earlier. Math that changed everything.

WHY ACHIEVEMENT WITHOUT RELATIONSHIPS FEELS EMPTY

I'd spent eight years obsessively chasing two specific goals. Becoming the #1 agent in the world at Keller Williams. Earning 30 under 30 recognition from the National Association of Realtors.

Both happened the exact same year.

The morning after achieving everything I'd worked toward, I woke up feeling nothing.

Completely hollow. If anything, it was probably my least profitable year because I'd been obsessed with vanity metrics instead of what actually mattered.

Meanwhile, I was systematically missing the moments that matter. Friends' weddings. Bachelor parties. Meaningful connections with people I genuinely cared about.

There's a friend whose wedding I missed, and I honestly can't remember what was so important that weekend. I'm no longer in that business. But I still carry regret about missing that milestone moment.

HOW THE FINITE MATH CHANGES EVERY DECISION

When you calculate the actual number of meaningful interactions you have left with the people who matter most, every choice becomes obvious.

That weekend work project versus your parent's visit? You're not just choosing work over family. You're choosing work over one of maybe 20 remaining visits.

That dinner meeting versus bedtime stories with your kids? You're not just missing tonight. You're missing one of the finite moments before they outgrow wanting you there.

The urgent email during family vacation? You're trading finite presence for infinite work that will always be there.

Jesse Itzler talks about this concept with brutal clarity. Think about the average lifespan in your family. Calculate the distance between your parents' current age and that number. If you see them twice a year, you might have 26 more visits. Total.

How different do you prioritize that missed call you take for granted because you're busy?

HOW I LEARNED TO PROTECT WHAT MATTERS

When I got married and had kids, I knew I couldn't mess that up. So I built a system that protects what's actually important.

Before I schedule any large event, retreat, or national conference, I put every meaningful milestone into my calendar first:

• All of my kids' school events

• Family vacations and visits

• Graduations, daddy-daughter dances, sporting events

• Time with aging family and close friends

Only after those non-negotiables are protected do I build the business calendar around them.

Don't let a meaningful event be interrupted by something you could have planned correctly for.

I also have a simple rule now. I don't go to dinner unless it's with a close friend.

Someone comes to visit for work and suggests dinner? The answer is 100% no. I'll do breakfast. I'll do lunch. But dinners away from my kids are very few and far between.

When I look at the finite amount of time I have with my kids at the age they're at, those are non-negotiables for me.

THE PRESENCE PROBLEM

Having finite time means nothing if you're mentally absent when you're physically present.

I had to learn to be completely okay with chaos. There's always going to be another emergency. There's always going to be something that needs to be done.

If you can't be present in that moment, it's impossible to ever be present.

Here's what I do now during family time:

• Phone, watch, and computer stay in another room

• No exceptions during protected relationship moments

• Create literal barriers to distraction

We live in a world where everyone's competing for attention. You have to build systems that allow you to be present with the people you're in front of.

WHEN SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ALL SAY THE SAME THING

I've had the opportunity to sit across from very successful men and women, and I always ask them the same question. "What would you do differently?"

One hundred percent of the time, especially if someone's in their 50s, 60s, or 70s—that latter season of their career and life—they give the same answer without hesitation.

"Don't miss the little things."

These are people who built companies, earned recognition, accumulated wealth. But when they look back, what they regret isn't business decisions or market timing. It's the finite moments they traded for infinite work.

THE THREE-GENERATION TEST

When weighing competing priorities, I use this simple filter.

In three generations and 100 years, no one will remember you were here. The only thing that remains real is the relationships we have with our loved ones in this moment.

That "crucial" project, promotion, or deal disappears completely in the noise of history. The time you spend genuinely present with people who matter echoes through their lives and yours.

WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW

Calculate your finite numbers this week. How many more meaningful conversations do you realistically have with the people who matter most?

Pick one key relationship. Do the math. Parents, siblings, close friends, your kids before they leave home. The numbers are smaller than you think.

Then examine your calendar. Are you protecting those finite opportunities, or are you letting infinite work consume them?

The math doesn't lie. Once you see it clearly, every choice becomes obvious.

You can always make more money, earn more recognition, or build bigger businesses.

You cannot make more time with the people who matter most.

BEYOND THE FINITE MATH

This episode covered a lot more ground—like why "balance" is actually an illusion, how different life seasons require different approaches to work, and how I learned to turn regret into lessons instead of poison.

But the finite math is where it all starts. Because once you see those numbers clearly, protecting what matters becomes pretty obvious.

What finite number are you going to calculate this week?

Here's to making the math matter, 

Leo

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