It’s the end of 2012, and I’ve been thinking about the idea of creating value lately. What makes something valuable, what makes it good, what makes anything worth having? What makes a person valuable and worth having as a friend?
If someone behaves in a way that is considered valuable, especially in the context of a larger community, we say that they’ve acted with valor. There is honor in acting this way. The opposite of this is cowardice.
We measure value in terms of money — it is how we’ve standardized the exchange of value. If I do something of value for one of my clients, there is usually a transfer of money to recognize that. More important than the money, however, are the feelings, emotions, and communications that happen. Gratitude, fulfillment.
Why are the richest people rich? I think that most people who become rich arrive at that state of being because they have found a way to deliver or realize an extraordinary amount of value that they’ve been able to transfer to other people, which those other people then exchange their own value-units (money) for. Some folks do this in ways that I have no desire to emulate, and some are worth studying and learning from.
What should I be doing with my life? I’ve seen advice from people that we should follow what we love. Why? Because when we focus our time, attention, money, energy and soul into an activity, we get better at doing it. When we get better at doing it, we are able to communicate or transfer more value outwards.
My focus for 2013 is to try to deliver the maximum amount of value I possibly can to as many people as possible. — to try to give the most I can. Not for money, but because that is the person I want to be.
People who act unselfishly on the behalf of others are considered to be valorous — they are recognized as being valuable people, because of what they do. That is the person I want to be, not for glory, but for the true happiness that comes from being a help to others.
Please call me on this if you see me acting like a jerk, or if I can do better. And consider for yourself, are you prepared to commit to being the best version of yourself that you can imagine?