The other day someone did something kind for me. I thanked them. They responded with surprise. “Why would you thank me for something that benefits me?”, they asked.
A very long time ago someone once told me, “Value = What Someone is Willing to Pay”
I’ve heard so many times over the years from business owners. A common mindset. My business is “worth”….X dollars.
And I would always reply…”It’s only worth that if someone is willing to pay that for it”. And oddly, most of the time, that didn’t register with them. It’s because they had an emotional component to the value of their business. I get that. But that has no bearing on it’s “worth”. The value of a business is actually a pretty straightforward formula depending on the business.
So…what’s it worth?
The real question…what am I worth?
Am I worth being kind to?
Am I worth spending time with?
Am I worth forgiving?
Am I worth protecting?….THAT is a hard one
There is a story of a young 12 year old boy. He was bullied. A lot. He had no dad and his mom had immigrated to the US for work. This bullying took a bad turn and he was beaten by his tormenters. 7 of them. One of them filmed it…now they are in jail. It made national news and one day, they interviewed the little 12 year old boy. They replayed the video of him being attacked. The boy’s lip quivered. And then right in the middle of it, out from backstage comes 3 NFL football players. Big ones. And right there on national TV, they hand him some folded up pieces of paper. Those pieces of paper were his defense against bullies. What could possibly be on those pieces of paper to protect him from bullying?
Their personal cell phone numbers.
How much do you think those were worth to that kid?
Let’s just say that kid now knew his own worth…
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