Treat Your 24 Hours Like Startup Equity—Here’s the Blueprint We're Testing To Multiply Our ROI

Over the past week, I’ve been reviewing a book called Hooked by Nir Eyal and Ryan Hoover, with one concept I really wanted to dive back into: the “investment” step.

It got me thinking:

Since time is something that can be sold (e.g. salaries, day rates, hourly rates, etc).

And we can increase its value (e.g. increasing skill level, qualifications, etc).

Then our time could be compared to company equity.

One big reason startups give away equity is their belief that the new owner will increase its value.

From this view, we can increase the value of shares by investing them into something or someone.

(Usually, it's the other way around. But, to get to that point, the shares need to be seen as valuable in the first place.)

So then, just like equity, if we want to increase the value of our time we need to invest it correctly.

The big difference is this:

Each day (God willing), we get a new set of tradeable 24 hours.

But, every second that isn't traded for something else, vanishes.

Our equity evaporates if we don't invest it.

The big question I had was this:

What is the best way to invest our daily 24 hours to maximise our return?

What I Learned from “Hooked”

Investing Fuels Commitment

• According to Hooked, when we pour effort into a system—logging progress, writing down small wins, or tracking time—we become more committed to it.
• That commitment will increase if the investment makes the system more valuable and personalised to us.

ROI on Our Time

• Our weekly routine is our investment strategy.
• A great investment is building the right habits.
• Another great investment is breaking the wrong habits.
• If the system we use to manage our habits becomes more useful as we invest in it then the value of that investment will compound.

The 3 Steps We're Using to Multiply ROI

(We'll be focusing our innovation on the last 1)

1. Create Your Routine as an "Investment Strategy"

List the goals you want to achieve and create a plan for what you'll do each week to drive progress.

2. Track Your "Time Investments" Daily

Allocate and record how you’re using your time to stay on track with your investment strategy.

3. Have Weekly Accountability & Improvement

Review your week to see where your time went and how effectively it was invested.

Identify your best (and worst) "returns", then adjust your system in a way that will help you improve your results for the next week.

Why We're Hooked on This Approach

I’m sharing this because I’m hooked (yes, pun intended) on the power of consistent, low-friction investments in habit-building.

Whether you use an app or a physical notebook:

• Every tweak you make
• Every note you jot down
• Every adjustment you apply

…is an investment that returns greater "bang for your buck", clarity, and momentum down the line - if it is done correctly.

The software and accountability programme at Winpact helps solopreneurs and freelancers do this with amazing results.

We help them to:

• Set their 12-week goals based on their long-term vision (Investment Strategy)
• Score points by completing progress-driving activities and updating their Scoreboard (Time Investments)
• Review the results of the previous week with an accountability coach and set tactics to put in play for a better week ahead (Accountability & Improvement)

But we're working on a feature that will be a huge level-up.

Something that helps players use their investment in our habit-building system to accelerate their progress.

This is the key thing we'll be testing to increase each player's rate of progress.

More on that to come.

Your Turn to Invest

Are you already investing in a habit system—digital or non-digital? If so, I’d love to hear what’s working for you and where you see the biggest returns on your time. Let’s swap notes and help each other boost our ROI.

One Last Takeaway

When we treat our time like startup equity, we create a system that grows in value the more we adapt and refine it.

As its value increases, so does the value of our time.

By tracking our “Time Investments”, focusing on driving progress towards our goals each day, and reviewing weekly, we maximise both the quality of our actions and the usefulness of our overall process.

I’ll keep you posted on how our experiment goes.

If you decide to put the steps into action for yourself, let me know how it works for you!

And if you're interested in seeing how Winpact's habit-building system can help you, feel free to comment or connect!