Do you want to be valued as an individual? Do you struggle with feeling worthy? Are you constantly looking for affirmation and confidence in yourself? You need to become a person of value, and I believe that it is something that everyone can do.
Every person can become a person of value.
Recently, my heart has been challenged by the book The Go-Giver, which presents five laws of stratospheric success. The first law is this:
“Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.”
What does this really mean in my life and the way that I live? Due to our overcommitted lifestyles, fast-paced society, and crammed weekly planners, we often focus on spreading ourselves thin and giving a little bit of ourselves to a lot of projects. We skim the surface of accomplishment and rarely go above what is expected of us.
Our skewed view of generosity has become quick “thank you’s”, fifteen-percent tipping, and throwing away our trash–all things we should be accepting as our responsibility anyway. Webster defines generosity as “the quality of being kind, understanding, and not selfish : the quality of being generous” I would like to take it to another level. To be generous is to go far above and beyond what is expected of you. It is to ADD value to something or someone.
At a restaurant, you are excepted to tip 15%. A waiter/waitresses pay scale is based on this standard. When you go into an establishment and receive slow service, a clumsy server, or improperly cooked food, what do you do? You tip the minimum or even less. What you forget is that the server is a human just like you who has a story just like yours. Who knows what her day has been like or what’s going on at home or in her heart. Or maybe your steak wasn’t cooked correctly, the server will get docked pay, but the cook who made the food will still make his fifteen dollars an hour. Instead of confirming to that girl that she did a terrible job, why not go above and beyond the expected and tip 25%? What does that say to her? You have just added value to someone who may not feel like they deserve it. You have just showed her she is of worth.
Adding value to others is about surpassing the standard expectation. it is about going above and beyond the status quo and meeting the needs of people with a high level of excellence. It is about speaking value and worth into someone who may not feel worthy.
Being generous is certainly not to be be solely defined by finances. We can be generous in so many ways that have nothing to do with money. What are some ways you can add value to those around you? What are some ways you can be generous? What are some ways you can rise about the standard expectation and serve with excellence?
You can be generous to others with words of affirmation, but how can you add value to that? You can resist the urge of affirming someone through texting or e-mail and send a hand written card. You can be generous to others by giving a gift, but how can you add value to that? It doesn’t have to cost much, but it could be wrapped and delivered in person. You can be generous to others by giving your time, but how can you add value to that? You can give them your undivided attention and respond to their needs based on what they shared with you.
My challenge to you is to be generous in everything you do and add a value to others by far exceeding the standard level of excellence.