What if I told you, that the fastest way for you to start making more money is by making money the least essential part of what you do and why you do it?
The common denominator when it comes to successful businesses and individuals alike, is their capacity to give to others. How much you give is correlated to how much you receive.
That does not mean that by giving away all of your money, you will automatically double the amount in your bank account. That is a delusion.
What’s real, is that all of us are given what we are appraised at. In the most simplest of terminology: when you agree to go to work to build someone else’s asset(s) for 40 hours a week; the salary that you agree to do that work for, is the appraisal that is placed on the role that you are filling.
A director position can start at $100k a year, But a sales position starts at much less, potentially nothing. This is not because there is a world of difference between the two people in those roles. But, there is a world of difference in how those two roles are valued.
How do you Value Yourself?
Each one of us has an evaluation, or how much we could potentially contribute. It is your responsibility to operate in a value equals money mindset as opposed to a time equals money mindset. The difference is in how you allow someone else to appraise you.
Money is not real. Money is a vehicle that allows us to be productive and contributory citizens. You must come to the realization that money has no sustained intrinsic value. Before and after you become a cog in a corporate machine, you are a soul. This means that your true value is not in what you can do but rather in who you are.
We add value when we live out our passions. If you want to lead a successful life, you cannot compromise on your passions.
As a society we have allowed ourselves to be appraised by what we do rather than who we are. When you switch from a time equals money mindset to a value equals money mindset, you start putting a higher value on your time.
Once again this is not a free pass to be irresponsible, however, every good financial plan starts by asking: how much are you worth?
If you complain about your job every day, wish you were making more money, feel stuck in your current role, or even just wish you were appreciated more for the work that you do; than it is safe to say that maybe you are not being properly valued.
What’s your ROI?
I can relate to this because at one point I found myself being undervalued in almost every area of my life: relationally, spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally. Once I realized that was happening, I began to make drastic changes that put me in a position where I began to appraise myself for what I am truly worth and not what someone else says I am worth.
The problem with letting others place value on you is that they will almost always underestimate you. This is no fault of your own, but rather a symptom of human nature.
People naturally look to label things so that they can better fit into their pre-established paradigm of thought. I learned to live in such a way that it is impossible for me to allow myself to be undervalued.
The best way to determine your own value is by measuring how much value you give to someone else.
Return on Investment (ROI) is a key indicator for how a business/investment is doing. Successful people treat themselves like a business. They take stock of their inventory, their investments, and assets; and determine their ROI. This ideology is applicable to every aspect of your life. The value equals money mindset puts you in a position to constantly ask yourself: how valuable am I?
That does not mean “how much money do I have in the bank?”. Again, money itself is valueless. What “how valuable am I?” means is: “How am I proliferating what I have to offer?“.
Are you giving back? If so in what capacity, and/or can you do more?
The Value of Adding Value
Look at large companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. Yes they have a large market cap; but why do you think that is the case at its core? Because they all provide a tremendous amount of value to their customers. Regardless of what you do for a living, you must be able to honestly ask yourself if whether or not you are providing tremendous value to you work; And to the people in your life.
Do people know how reliable you are? Can people call on you for the big project to be completed? How trustworthy are the products and services that you offer, and does what you do perfectly align with who you are?
When you merge your passions with your values you start living with purpose.
Purposeful living is more rewarding and gratifying than all of the money in the world. When you live on purpose that means you are living the life you were meant to. When you live on purpose you cannot help but to be a servant to others.
The golden rule is to do to others as you would have others do to you. In other words, serve the way you want to be served; and impact the lives of others the way you want your life to be impacted.
This is how we add value. This is how we identify our own value.
Living with Purpose
From a theoretical standpoint you want to add value to other’s lives because you want to become active engagers in the Law of Reciprocity (the idea that what you put out in the world comes back to you).
The practical value in adding value is that you build name recognition and familiarity. Marketing and trustworthiness is how businesses build their brand.
As a purposeful individual, you seek to add value because it gives you the room necessary to grow and develop; and to have a lasting impact in someone else’s life.
The goal is to realize that we all are more valuable than a dollar amount associated with an hour of time. The same thing that gives a CEO value is the same thing that gives a janitor value – the fact that they are souls.
When you become effective at touching more souls, your bank account will become more effective at attracting more money. It is not about what you do, but rather why you do what you do; and who you do it for.
Ken
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