Guest Blog: Value [Elliott Gore]
Jun 15, 2018
I want to talk about value, and in doing so share somethings I’ve only been learning recently; even today I was thinking about it and realised more facets of its relevance and application in my life.
I was thinking about a famous person I am a fan of; I won’t tell you who they are, because it doesn’t really matter (in fact this could be true of any famous or successful person). I was thinking about how they have all this money, how they have all this success, and how they keep working. They are a performer, and even though they’ve got huge success on YouTube and take tour performances around the world, they still look for new opportunities to perform, and new roles to play.
Thinking about it from my current mindset, or my old mindset, this looks a little strange. From my old mindset, work is what I do to get money, so if I don’t need money then why would I need to work. These performers also seem to be very lucky, because they happen to get paid for something they enjoy doing. And sure, maybe their lifestyle is one they have become accustomed to and so they need to keep working to maintain that level of living. But where they are now, they’ve got the money, they’ve got the merchandise, they’ve got the fans; what more do they want?
It’s an imperfect example, because people who become famous as performers usually love to perform, and asking them to stop performing is not possible, since we all need to do what we enjoy. But more broadly the principle and concept behind it is that they keep working, even though they don’t need to.
But there’s another way of thinking of this; I’ve been told this is what it means to be an entrepreneur. See an entrepreneur looks for ways to add value to society and the people around them. They look for needs, for things that people want, and then they find a way to provide that. Sometimes that may lead to a career and position, but someone who considers themself an entrepreneur at heart will always be looking for ways to add more value, whether that’s by expanding the business they find themselves in, or by branching out and entering a new one.
Do you see the significance of this? We can all add value to society and the people around us. And just to be clear, value needs to be defined as more than just helping people stay alive. Of course, medicine, philanthropy, missions to help the poorest and neediest people in the world are excellent places to concentrate adding value, but everyone everywhere have areas that they can have value added. Entertaining people, is adding value. Helping people go from any level of life to a new one, is adding value. Helping people become more healthy; making clothes for people to look good wearing; telling people stories; selling them something that is going to make one aspect of their life easier, or tidier, or a little less uncomfortable is all adding value.
Imagine how the world would be if we stopped competing with one another and focused on adding value to other people’s lives. Imagine if we all looked at the things we individually loved doing, or the things that make us really passionate, or the things that break our hearts, and we took that and went out to add value with that, or to that situation. We all have something that we love to do that will send value out into the world. We can all find some way of living a life right now where we enjoy what we do and other people benefit from it. Some of us are already doing it.
We all have something of value to add to the world, this is what I’m learning. And the trick, I’m finding, is to find first what you really enjoy. Not what people have told you you should enjoy; not what people say will be the easiest way to help other people out; but what you really, truly enjoy. Once that’s been found, then you go and do it, always on the lookout for ways to use that to add that value to the world. That’s what my celebrity inspiration is doing. And what I’m doing too.
I’ll close with a quote from Howard Thurman, a prominent African-American writer from last century. I’ve been seeing a bit of this lately and that I think is good to keep in mind. “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Elliott Gore
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