Learning Low Time Preference (Thanks to Bitcoin)

Before Bitcoin, I didn’t know what time preference was — let alone that I had a high one. Like most people, I was always chasing the next thing: the next paycheck, the next dopamine hit, the next quick fix. It wasn’t out of laziness or greed — it was just how the world works under fiat thinking.

Then I found Bitcoin. And slowly, I began to understand what it means to delay gratification, to build for the long term, and to value things that last.

This shift didn’t just affect how I save or invest. It’s changed how I eat, how I parent, how I think, and how I live.

What Is Time Preference, Anyway?

Time preference is a simple but powerful idea: it’s how much you value the present versus the future.

High time preference = you want results now. You spend everything you earn, you chase quick hits, you avoid hard work that takes time to pay off.
Low time preference = you’re willing to wait. You save, invest, build slowly, and choose things that pay off in the long run.

Under fiat systems, everything encourages high time preference. Why delay gratification when your money loses value every year? Why build a strong family when you can scroll endlessly for shallow entertainment? Why raise your own kids when a system will do it for you?

Time Preference and the Long Game

One of the most profound concepts I learned through Bitcoin is low time preference — the idea of sacrificing now for a better future. Fiat systems encourage high time preference: consume now, worry later. That’s exactly how traditional schooling operates: cram, test, forget. It’s about compliance and performance, not depth or mastery.

Homeschooling, on the other hand, is the long game. It’s slow. It’s imperfect. But it’s deeply intentional. It lets me cultivate my children’s character and curiosity — not just their ability to pass a standardized test.

How Bitcoin Taught Me to Zoom Out

Bitcoin can’t be printed. It can’t be inflated. It rewards patience. It forces you to think in decades, not days.

As I learned more about Bitcoin, I started to see how my own time preference needed work. I wasn’t investing in the future — not really. I was going through the motions of the fiat system: work, consume, repeat.

Bitcoin made me ask better questions:

What am I building?
What legacy am I leaving?
How am I spending my time?

These weren’t easy questions. But they were necessary ones.

Daily Life with Low Time Preference

Learning about low time preference didn’t just stay in my wallet — it bled into my habits.

I started eating a lot more red meat, raw liver and milk and eating clean. Because long-term health matters.
I started homeschooling. Because forming my children matters more than outsourcing their minds.
I started reading more and scrolling less. Because filling my mind with truth is more valuable than noise.
I began caring less about status and more about legacy.

Low time preference is not about perfection. It’s about trajectory — moving away from instant gratification and toward something deeper, richer, and slower.

Striving for Low Time Preference (It’s Not Always Easy)

Living with low time preference is a daily struggle. We’re surrounded by systems and screens designed to hijack our attention. Bitcoin gives you the signal — but you still have to fight through the noise.

Some days I mess up. I rush. I overconsume. I get distracted.

But then I zoom out. I remember the long game. And I return to the path.

Stay tuned, and stay sovereign.

A Better Way to Live

Bitcoin helped me understand that the most valuable things in life — truth, family, health, legacy — take time. They can’t be rushed or faked. They require patience and discipline. But the payoff is exponential.

I’m still learning. Still growing. Still striving to lower my time preference in a high time preference world

Follow me on X or on Nostr / Subscribe here for email notifications.

Learning low-time preference.