English

Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire

Author: Dan Martell Publication Date: Jan 2023

2026-05-12 2 min read Sincheenz

I bought this book because I heard my client mention it. He swears by it and says it has helped him structure both his life and the way he works. I was curious and wanted to read it to help me understand where some of my client’s ideas and suggestions come from.

I waited two weeks before writing this review to see what I could still remember and whether any of it had made an impact. I also wanted to make sure I wasn’t dismissing it as hot air too soon.

The book had some interesting takeaways. For example, I liked the suggestion of creating playbooks to ensure that delegated tasks are completed the way you would do them yourself. To be honest, that’s the one idea that really stayed with me. The rest my brain didn’t find interesting enough to retain.

I thought he was getting somewhere till I got to the last chapters. What disappointed me was a story where one of his clients calls to say that he has implemented all of the methods, is making good money, and is only working two hours a day. The author says he is disappointed in the client because he isn’t aiming for more and because he believes there is more out there for him. Building an empire and all that. I guess it’s ok if that’s what his client wanted.

But I found that very contradictory. You will never buy back your time if you keep investing it in more. It is a finite thing, not infinite. As Oliver Burkeman reminds us in Four Thousand Weeks (https://amzn.to/4i0KEaL), we only get about 4,000 weeks to live on average.

Also, doesn’t spending time with your family involve picking the kids up from school, having short conversations about their day, preparing meals with your spouse, fooling around while cleaning up, going on walks, and simply being present? And yet still having fun building projects at work and making enough money to enjoy both?

I feel that books like this define success very narrowly. It was not a book for ME, but I am sure there are others out there who will swear by it.