Turns out, you're priceless - and I can prove it.

SO OFTEN my clients come in with little to no awareness of how amazing, awesome, brilliant, resilient and awesome they are (yes, I said 'awesome' twice). And just as often, I go over what their value is and explain the rational and logic to support the discussion.

Alright, let’s figure out your value! But first, what is your favorite color? Mine’s blue. Can you or anyone take that away from me? No. Why? Because not only is blue the coolest color, my liking it best comes from inside; it’s INTERNAL. You can chop off my arm (please don’t) but you can’t take away my favorite color. That's an odd way to explain it but valid, nonetheless.

The same goes for your value - it can't be taken away and I can prove it. See this 5 dollar bill? Can you change the paper bill into any other paper bill amount? No. It never even turns into a quarter, nickel or dime because it is a paper 5 dollar bill.  The paper can be torn, ripped, stomped on, spit on, used, defaced, etc. but It’s value can’t change by what it does, what it goes through or what it buys and neither can yours.

Where does your value come from? To explain this, think about the characteristics of a child from the age of 3-5ish.

1. Caring (they worry when others are sad) 2. Honest (ever heard that phrase, “kids say the darndest things?”) 3. Thoughtful (they spend time and effort on doing nice things for you) 4. Resilient (they endure. When life throws a curve-ball, they roll with it) 5. Creative (they are never bored) 6. Curious (they discover new things – “why, how, where, what”) 7. Integrity (they do the right thing even when nobody is watching) 8. Resourceful (they figure out how to get what they want) 

Does the value of that child diminish as he or she grows older and makes mistakes? Of course not. Our value (we’re priceless, by the way) comes from our ‘internal attributes’ (see list above) and just like nobody can take the fantastic color 'blue' away from my favorite color list, no one can take away my value. Internal attributes are part of who we are and can’t be taken away just like the physical, paper 5 dollar bill stays a physical, paper 5 dollar bill no matter what is done to it. It’s value cannot be altered or lowered – YOU’RE value cannot be altered or lowered…(I’m looking at you with the low self-esteems).  Your value is the same as everyone else’s because just like people can’t take away your favorite color, nothing can take away your value. Not even you.

Where did we go wrong!?? Western culture gets it wrong by attaching too much value on external things. This includes achievement, status, education, finances, body image, muscles, physical health and other 'stuffs' (what you have to show to others).  I’m not going to get into the economics of the U.S. or how the media and marketing shoves the "you're not OK yet" belief system down your throats but I will say that while living in Africa, I met SO MANY people who’s names were rooted in ‘internal’ attributes. I worked with a woman named “Honesty”, walked down a dirt road with a man named “Compassion”, played guitar with someone named “Integrity”…you get the point. 

Here in the U.S. we name our kids “Mercedes”, “Porsche”, John, Mike, Jon…Jed! The first 2 names on the list were the ones to compare and to be honest, I did meet an “Elvis” in Tanzania but that’s because he really loved Elvis music. In East Africa, people are happier because they are taught that their value comes from within. They don’t need external 'stuffs' to be fulfilled, complete or even just OK. They understand that they already have everything they need to create joy. The point is, our people have forgotten what actually creates joy. We've forgotten what makes us valuable – and this shift of values hasn’t had a positive effect. Good thing you’re reading this because I could sure use the help 're-teaching' people the truth.  

Here's the truth. Our value comes from our internal attributes – and we’re born with them. They’re part of who we are. You are priceless – congratulations, you hit the jackpot.

On the next ‘Jed Says’, maybe we’ll talk about how to spend our value because, it turns out that what we do with our lives is correlated to creating joy in life. I'm talking about meaning and purpose. 

Thanks for reading and be sure to subscribe to the “Jed Says” youtube channel found at www.youtube.com/meaningtolive
Till next time!
Jed