“The world pays for value, that’s it!” ~ Guy Burns
The world doesn’t pay for cars or houses or clothes. It doesn’t pay for work, or scoring points or saving lives. It pays for value. When someone says “that costs too much” it isn’t true. The price is never too high, the value is too low.
Here is an example, on my desk I currently have a glass of water. I have been sipping on it for a few hours, it is about half empty and there is a pretty safe bet it has some of my slobber in it. Would any of you pay me $20 for the half full glass of slobber water? I have asked this question to thousands of people at speaking events in ten countries, on four continents and have never had anyone take me up on it so I guessing you didn’t reach for your wallet either.
What Value Does it Have?
If you had been crawling across a desert for four days and your tongue was swollen so badly you could barely breathe, you would pay $100 or $1,000. You would sign over your car or your house to me, for my slobber water. In the first scenario, my water had no value to you, in the second it may save your life.
If you want to receive more from the world, add more value. Be the drink that someone needs. I believe everyone brings joy to a room, some when they enter, and some…when they leave. Every day think of something you can do to add value. When you walk into a room does it light up or do people know you are going to complain and take light out of the room?
Can you take a course or read books on your industry? I have had people tell me they won’t invest in themselves, they expect their employers to pay for any books or training, if your employer will pay for training or books that’s great, if not then you invest in you! We’ve all heard “Knowledge…is power.” I totally agree with that statement if the knowledge is applied.
Knowledge – Application = Knowledge Knowledge + Application = Transformation
Here are four quick tips to that are easy to understand and simple to apply to help you add more value to the world!
- Be Present – Wherever you are, be THERE. When working on a project, stay focused, turn off your email and phone. Check every thirty minutes or one hour, whatever is appropriate. When talking to someone, don’t be looking at your mobile phone or computer. It is very honoring to just listen to someone and it adds value to them.
- Be Positive – You can’t control what happens to you in life, you can decide how to respond to what happens. When a negative event occurs, look at it in the scope of life. If it won’t affect you in five years don’t give it five minutes of energy. You have so many blessings in your life that you can afford to let a few negatives happen without it dragging you down.
- Be Productive – Take action, go the extra mile, do more than you are asked to do. If a quarterback knows how to throw the ball but never throws it due to fear or apathy, he adds no value to the team. If he is the type person that not only practices hard and studies his opponent, but also does what it takes to win, he can write his own paycheck. Tom Brady is proof of what can happen when you take action.
- Be Persistent – A quality that is lacking in many organizations and individuals is follow through. Doing what you say you are going to do, I will…until. Do whatever it takes to reach the goal or finish that task if it takes extra effort. That is how you stand out and add value that others are unwilling to do.
