Words, like other things, have value. When we value things, we use special words. Words like priceless, invaluable, rare and precious are used to show great value. Many things add to the value that we give something. The more limited something is, the more valuable it becomes. It is the old concept of supply and demand—the more the supply, the less the cost or value we put on it.

You can buy a Bible for $5 or you can attempt to buy the world's rarest Bible, which could cost you upwards of $25 million dollars. A single page of the Gutenberg Bible would cost you roughly $25,000. There are reportedly only six existing signatures from William Shakespeare, one of the rarest of all signatures of the departed. If you have one and want to exchange it for money, you could get $3 million dollars in the exchange. Even though you can buy a Bible or a signature for a few pennies, certain ones are more valuable because they are rare.

If something is easily replaceable or there are “lots more where that came from”, we seem to put less value on it. In today’s modern world, most things can be easily replaced. If you break something, you can go to the store or to your computer and order a new one. We can replace a job, relationships, body parts, money, get a new pet or a new car, we can even start a new family.

In the process of easy replacement, one thing stands out as the only truly irreplaceable thing and that is time. Time is a special commodity-it is an unknown quantity and a rare commodity— once it is spent, it is spent. Yesterday is a canceled check.

One of the keys to life is to come to this understanding about the value of time. The sooner in your life you realize the value of time, the sooner you will treat it as the rarest of commodities. If you consider what happens when our time runs out, our perceived value of time increases. Near the end of life, people decide that their time has value and now it is time to make the most out of what’s remaining. To live a truly significant life, we must come to this realization—sooner—rather than later.

To increase the value of time, ask the existential questions of life on a daily basis:

• Who am I?
• Why am I here?
• What is my purpose?
• If today was my last day on this planet, did it matter one bit that I was given the gift of life?

When we daily ask these existential questions and put action behind our emotions, we live a life of significance. When we live our life like it matters, our time has great value. Don’t wait until you run out of time to value the gift of life. As the saying goes: “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present."

For the past 25 years, Scott V. Black has been the Master Trainer for Transformational, Leadership Awakening. He is also host of the Like It Matters radio show, heard daily from 9 to 10 a.m., in Minneapolis, on Wellness Radio 1570 and TwinCitiesWellnessRadio.com. For more information, visit LikeItMatters.net.