Challenge 1:Understanding Your Value

One of the things that cause people to become caught up in the normal, mundane, average routines of life is that they do not understand their value. Oftentimes, we determine our value by where we work, who we marry, how we look, what we drive, where we live, etc. None of these things determine your value. There are many losers with nice cars. Some beautiful people are married to slobs. Many smart and creative people work for minimum wage. Here is one of life’s greatest secrets. Listen closely. “You determine your value!” You are the one who dictates if you are very valuable, slightly valuable, or of no value at all. You determine that! Not TV, books, polls, surveys, people, or anything else.

Here is something that will set you free. You attract things and people in your life based upon how valuable you see yourself. For example, I accepted a federal job when I left the military. It was a low paying job, but it was my foot hole into the system. I liked the job and was very thankful to have a good one after working for a few shaky companies. I worked there for 5 years and applied for several positions as well as tried to get my current position upgraded. Nothing worked. Finally, I said to myself “this is it, this is who I am, and I probably won’t get a better job.” I had begun de-valuing myself. I was stuck and felt like this was the only job I could get. However, somewhere in the midst of those five years, I purchased a self help tape by a motivational speaker.

On the tape, the speaker talked about “how you see yourself”. His message opened my eyes. After listening to the message, I purchased several other “self help” tapes by various speakers. Between all of what I heard, I took a sheet of paper and wrote down why I thought I was valuable. It wasn’t long just a few sentences. I read those statements every morning, around lunchtime, and before I went to bed. My value (how I saw myself) started changing. To make a long story short, within no time, I received many job offers. I was able to pick the job that I felt was right for me. I received several promotions within the last 3 years. I even went to one interview where there were many directors who made up the board. When I was done with the interview, I stepped outside the door to gather my bearings and they began to argue who was going to get me. They were arguing over me! Now, some may call this a coincidence, but I know without a shadow of a doubt, nothing changed in my life until I changed the way I valued me (The way I saw myself).

Here is your challenge. Write down three to five characteristics that make you valuable and how they contribute to enhancing your environment or the world around you. An example would be: I am valuable because my personality is contagious; it changes the atmosphere of any room no matter how disgruntled the people in it may be.

Once you write down why you are valuable, read it aloud to yourself for the next thirty days. You can do this in the morning, during lunch break, before you go to bed, or whenever you have free time. The more you say it aloud, the better.