Know Your Hourly Rate or Keep Wasting Time Like an Amateur

Most entrepreneurs, business owners, and executives are running around like their time is free. It’s not.

And until you know what your time is actually worth, you’ll keep doing $20/hour tasks while trying to build a $2M business.

That’s backward. That’s broke behavior disguised as productivity.

Let’s fix it.

The Equation That Changes Everything

Dan Martell has a killer formula that everyone serious about growth needs to know:

Your Hourly Rate = (Your Desired Annual Income) / (2,000 Hours)

Why 2,000? That’s roughly a full-time work year (40 hours/week × 50 weeks).

So if your goal is to earn $500,000/year:
$500,000 / 2,000 = $250/hour

That means your time is worth $250 per hour. Anything you’re doing that could be done by someone you can pay less than that?

You’re losing money every minute you hold on to it.

The 25% Rule: No Exceptions

Here’s where most people miss it—and where Martell drives it home:

If a task can be done for 25% or less of your hourly rate, you must delegate it. No exceptions.

So if your rate is $250/hour:
$250 × 0.25 = $62.50

That’s the line. Anything under that? Gone.

• Scheduling appointments
• Inbox management
• Video editing
• Running errands
• Basic bookkeeping
• Tech setup
• Canva designs

None of that is your job anymore. Not if you're serious.

You’re the Bottleneck, Not the Hero

Let’s be real...replying to every email, fixing your calendar, or tweaking your website isn't “grinding.”

It’s just bad math.

If you're spending 10 hours a week on $30/hour tasks, you're burning $2,200/week of your own value.

That’s over $100,000 a year in lost potential.

Refusing to utilize services, freelancers, assistants or delegate to other employees is literally losing your business money.

Remember, the largest constraint to any person, whether you're work as a solopreneur or executive in a Fortune 500 company, is time.

What To Do With the Time You Free Up

Delegation isn’t about doing less. It’s about doing what matters more.

Reallocate that time to high-leverage moves:

• Closing bigger deals

• Building your brand

• Developing new offers

• Deep strategic work

• Hiring the right people

• Investing in your health and energy

And if you free up time just to scroll TikTok? Cool. You just paid yourself $250/hour to melt your brain.

This is about buying back your focus, your impact, your future.

Don't Ignore This Compounding Effect

Most people are broke because they never stop to calculate what their time is worth.

The ones who win? They build systems and teams around this one truth:

If it’s not worth your rate—or even close to it—it’s not yours to do.

Figure out your number. Burn it into your brain. And make this your mantra:

If it costs less than 25% of my rate, I don’t touch it.

Want help finding your number, spotting time leaks, and building a system that buys your life back?

Stop trying to do everything. Start focusing on the right things.