The value of being valued

The only currency you will really need

We are not truly valued for what we do

This digital age we have moved into quite rapidly, especially since Covid, has shown and will continue to show that none of us are to be valued for what we do. The skills we have in a particular task will have to quickly evolve and will even be eliminated by technology, by business focus, and even societal changes. Our long-term value is not in what we do, but who we are, who we become.

Right now, it is assumed that most people will go through 3-4 career changes in their lives. That can be whole shifts in what they do. I am on my third career presently and would not be surprised to shift into a 4^th one. Career changes that required a shift in the knowledge that I needed to know, the interpersonal skills I needed, and even the daily technical skills I needed in order to become a success.

What I realized as I shifted careers was that what was most valuable to me, and most valuable to those I worked with, was not my knowledge and understanding of a particular industry or even how to get things done. What I found most valuable to me, and to the team as a whole, was my ability to lead, my ability to communicate, and my ability to help them be a success as well.

Valued for being you

This may sound selfish and self-centered, but true. Do you respect Steve Jobs for anything than being the type of person he is? Oprah Winfrey? Richard Branson? We respect and value them because something they are something we want to be. We want to emulate some part of them.

They are valued for who they are as a person.

What made me one of the most valued people in the start-up I joined had nothing to do with what I knew. It had everything to do with who I was, as a person. A person who cares for why I wanted something for myself, how I want to get things done, and the means I use to help everyone around me to be the person they want to be.

Wanting my freedom to choose, everyday, and wanting that for everyone, is the value I have. That is my most important asset.

Freedom to choose

This is what will make you able to do anything in this ongoing revolution of business, and be one of the most highly valued people no matter what you create.

When you become highly valued, you are on a path to your freedom. And I do not mean financial freedom. I mean freedom of choice.

When there is more competition than ever, how do you stand out?

Leaders get to choose

First of all, understand that however you become seen as being valued, you become a leader. You may be a reluctant leader, but you will be someone that others look to as an example of someone who has their S**t together. Someone they admire and respect. Someone they want to learn from.

It is not your choice when you choose to become valued for who you are. It comes with the respect others have for you.

One of the aspects of being a leader is that you are someone with a vision. A vision of what you want, and also what you don’t want. You have a determinate approach, based on your values. And you adhere to them based on the value you have for yourself.

To admit that you have a vision for your future may sound a little scary, a little to determinate, a little too set in stone and being obsessive for it. But it is not that. It is simply that you have decided, and you feel that you have a way you want to live.

In your career life, let’s do a quick exercise.

Want/Don’t want

Let’s do a quick exercise. Get out a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle of it. You can do this as 2 columns on your computer as well. For this part it is important to see both sides at the same time.

On one side write down all the things you don’t want. From the giant to the mundane. Write them all down.

Now on the other side, write down all the things you DO want. From the most unlikely to the most familiar. Write them down.

Now look at your lists. Do you have more on one side than the other? Did one list come out quicker and easier than the other side?

These lists show you where your focus is, what you have in your head.

A person with more on the want side, that this side came out o you more quickly and easily is an indication that you value yourself. That you have a vision of who you want to be.

A question

Ask yourself a question, when presented with something new, a new idea, a new process, a new perspective. What is your initial feeling about it? Watch yourself over the next few days. Do you initially feel that you don’t want that? That you do want that? Or feel neutral?

The reason is that if you find yourself feeling like you don’t want things more than you do want them, your focus is on the negative. Your focus is not on the future possibilities.

It is not that there may be more things that you do not want over the next few days. It is that you notice them.

It is your focus on what you want that is key. Focus on what is ahead for you. What excites you. What sparks possibilities and opportunities for you. Isn’t this what you want? Infinite possibilities?

Mindset switch

You should be thinking of what you do want, always. When you see something that you don’t want, see the other side. Allow it to develop an idea of what you do want.

Focus on this for one week, 7 days. Focus on everything you do want.

Once you focus on what you do want, you will see them, and even more possibilities, everywhere. It is like when you buy new shoes or a new car. All of a sudden you see them everywhere. That is what you want.

That is seeing things that are opportunities. Things that move you toward your brilliant future.

Changing this one mindset will change how you see the world around you. A world full of ideas and possibilities you want.

You choose

Understanding what you want and don’t want is the start to ensuring your ability to choose how you live your life. And is there really any better metric for feeling freedom than always having the ability to choose.

This is your true value, being who you are. Because no matter who you want to be, who you become, people will more value you, for you. You will be more determinate for people to understand. For them to trust.

Focus on what you want, how you want to live, what is important to you. Then when opportunities and forks in the road occur, even in everyday conversations, you can easily choose. Choose for you.

Choosing is freedom

I want nothing for you but your freedom to choose. Your freedom to be who you want, why you want it, and how you create that for yourself.

This I want for you, as I do for myself.