What value do you bring to this world? To those around you? To your own life?
Value is crucial to your identity, but it is a flexible variable that you can mold and shape. It is directly dependent on – and influenced by – your thoughts, actions and beliefs.
It is important to note that value is not your worth. You are worthy and “enough” as you are, human and elaborately designed in God’s image. Rather, value is intrinsic to living an exceptional and satisfying life.
Take time to analyze your activities and habits. Do they increase or decrease your value? Do they support your goals? For example, observe the type of content that you consume on a daily basis; are the shows, songs, books, news outlets and social media channels contributing to your joy, gratitude and success? Or, do they incite comparison, worry and fatigue? What could you do instead of scrolling through Instagram or frequently binge watching Netflix? Could you go for a walk? Learn a new skill? Allow yourself to actually daydream?
Another example is the people that you surround yourself with. Are they driven and encouraging and optimistic? If so, they increase your value. Or, are those people unmotivated and judgmental and negative? As difficult as it may be to admit it for some, they decrease your value. Motivational speaker Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Here’s one more: The things you believe about yourself. Are they self-limiting? Do you believe that you’re incapable of achieving your dreams? Making money? Receiving love? Self-limiting beliefs decrease your value, and it is essential to alter your mindset in order to spur transformation. Generating positive affirmations about yourself impacts your life in dramatic ways. Your thoughts, after all, become your reality.
After analyzing the areas of your life that increase or decrease your value, it is time to implement change. Direct your energy on practices, relationships and ideas that enrich you. Reduce or remove obstacles that prevent you from achieving greatness.
You will become so much more valuable – not only to yourself, but also to this vast, diverse world that we call Planet Earth.
