Name Your Price

What are you worth? I mean really, truly worth...

There are many factors we use to determine what we believe we are worth. Our salaries. Feedback from our families, friends, peers, and bosses. We compare ourselves to others. We compare ourselves to manufactured images. We read, we observe, and ultimately, we pass and accept judgements that are primarily constructed from these factors, many of which are fictitious.

At the end of the day, your worth is completely determined by you. You set it; you accept it. And once you do, what was once just a story becomes your reality.

Let's think coffee for a moment. I can buy a really nice 12-16 oz. package of expertly roasted beans for around $6. I also get cream, stevia, cocoa, and ground vanilla bean. I use an AeroPress, which I purchased for around $25 half a dozen years ago. And I make my own designer lattes - hot, cold, or frozen - for well under $1 apiece. It takes less than five minutes and the superiority over any coffee shop latte is exponential. When I purchase the inferior versions offered by my nearby baristas, I spend around $6 and about half an hour. And here's the kicker: it's nowhere near as good!

Yet I still go to the coffee shop sometimes...along with millions of other people. I cheerfully hand over a week's worth of home latte budget and I allow myself to believe that it's worth it.

Anything is worth only what the owner or peddler of that commodity believes it to be worth...and can convince others to pay. And the people who've mastered this not only convince you to pay, they have you giddily doing so. Chances are you're even championing their wares and converting others into enthusiastic fans.

In this way, you do get what you pay for. But what is that exactly? Are you paying for an image of what something is worth? Or are you paying for its true value?

If you are underpaid, underutilized, under appreciated, ask yourself this: Am I willing to accept where I've set my worth, or am I going to do something to change that?

Remember: true value only speaks for itself when it speaks. Your worth will only begin to match your value when you are able to effectively express it.