Time is the most precious resource each of us owns. It is more valuable than all the riches in the world, yet, we are all guilty of occasionally squandering time as if we have an infinite reserve of seconds, minutes, and hours. We don’t! Time is, in fact, something we have less and less of with each passing second. That’s why YouTube entrepreneur Dave Nick believes the older you get, the more critical it becomes to make your time count.

“Time is like a river,” explained Dave Nick. “If you’re not careful, you’ll spend your days on the river bank and watch hypnotically as it gently passes you by. But if you believe in the effective use of time management, then you’ll take a boat out on that river and use it to take you to places where you need to be.”

It may sound like a cryptic metaphor, but that’s Dave Nick’s way of saying that it’s never too early or too late to start making time work for you. The Serbian businessman is a living example of how to master time and not let it become your master. He made his first foray into business at the age of 13, and by the time he turned 18, he was a self-made millionaire. As a YouTube consultant, Dave now spends his time traveling the world and helping others make their dreams a reality.

Dave Nick explained, “From a young age, I noticed there were so many people in the world who believed that success was going to come their way, and all they had to do was be patient. This is a fallacy. You can either waste your days waiting for your lucky break, or you can go out there and make it happen through hard work and endeavor. That, to me, is the very essence of time management.

It’s all about short-term pain and long-term gain to make the most of the time you’re given. For example, you could spend your days watching Netflix and never achieve anything, or, you can put in the hours, learn a skill, build your business, and at the end of it all, you’ll have something to be proud of and plenty of free time to enjoy the fruit of your labors.”

As the face behind YouTube’s most popular business channel, Dave Nick has reached a certain position in life, but he doesn’t take his success for granted. He explained, “Time management has played a massive part in my success, and I know I have to continue to use my time wisely if I’m to stay on top of the game. A lot of people have ambitions, but they never get the ball rolling because they are daunted by what seems like a mammoth and overwhelming uphill challenge.”

Dave Nick added, “This is where the art of effective time management comes in. Break each goal into manageable and daily tasks. Prioritize wisely, plan, and organize fully. Ignore everything that is not essential to the task at hand, set a time limit to complete it, and commit yourself. Remember, the longest journey begins with the smallest step, and it’s not a matter of if you get there, but when you get there.”