Establishing Your Currency: Hint it doesn't have to be money - All Natural: Being 100% You
There is no need to value money above all other things.
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Catch up on All Natural:
Introduction to All Natural: Being 100% You
- featuring @sarahpaine and @strangerarray
- featuring @sarahpaine and @strangerarray
What’s Good For Others Might Be Killing You
- Chapter One of All Natural: Being 100% You
- Chapter One of All Natural: Being 100% You
Chapter 2 of All Natural: Being 100% You
- featuring @sarahpaine and @strangerarray
- featuring @sarahpaine and @strangerarray
We’re not gonna lie and say “money is not important” or “money doesn’t matter”.
Because it does.
Especially when you don’t have much, payday isn’t for a few more days, you are running low on gas and you are not sure you are going to have enough to pay your bills.
Then money matters.
A lot!
But there is more to life than money.
Money takes up a big place in our brains, when we let it.
There is no end to all the hypothetical things that will happen if we don’t have enough and there is an equally opposite amount of dreams that could happen if we have a large amount of it.
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The poinit of Establishing Your Currency is to rethink value.
What is it people value most?
Money, right?
What about social capital?
Relationships.
Time.
Dreams.
Drive.
Adventure.
There is more to life than living paycheck to paycheck.
Figuring out which of these or other “alternative currencies” matters most to you will help you to be All Natural.
Ultimately, we hope you find something of value worth trading with others to build up other's lives above your own.
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We have all probably heard that “Your net worth is not your self worth.”
James Altucher turns that phrase on its ear when he said “Your network is your net-worth.”
A good and healthy network of family, friends, and other colleagues will be able to help you when you need it most.
This network could also be the most helpful tool in looking for careers or getting hired.
We hear it all the time that people who got hired did because they knew someone who worked there.
Having this network of people who are willing to vouch for who you are can make a big difference in your pocketbook.
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But let’s take a closer look at those other currenncies.
Sure time can be and often is traded for money.
But if you think about it, if it is that valuable that people are paying you for it, then maybe you want to use it a bit differently.
If you are able to earn an income where you don’t trade time for money, then that would be ideal to free you up to do other things that you find more important.
When you do have a job that pays by the hour or based on hours worked, then you need another strategy.
How well do you use your time not at work?
Do you make the most of your “free time” or do you waste it away waiting for the day to end so you can go to bed and wake up and do it all over again?
Finding worthy things to do with you time might be a struggle.
You have to think about things that you otherwise might not want to.
Let’s take a look at a common question that is all over the internet.
What would you do if money wasn’t an issue?
Often what follows this is some self-help-y type of motivation to find your true passion and follow your dreams and catch unicorns…
The question certainly has its advantages as a thought exercise and can help boil down what is important to you.
It can also be a mirror and reflect things about yourself.
Maybe things you may rather not like to admit.
Evaluating what you would do brings to the foreground questions most of us try to avoid.
Questions like: What is the meaning of life? What is worthy of pursuit?
Maybe even perhaps: Why do I even exist?
Or: Is there a god?
When I try to imagine a life where money is not something I trade precious moments of my fleeting life for in order to pay for things, I struggle.
What would I do instead with my time?
What would make a difference in other people’s lives?
What is worthy of pursuit?
What really matters?
Why even try?
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The thing that I come back to is the only thing that really matters to me.
My “why” is Jesus Christ.
Then comes the question of What?
What do I do with this?
The simple truth is to do this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
And so I do the best that I can.
Which sometimes isn’t always very good.
But I try agin each day.
Share when I can.
And pray.
Other things in life that are possible "alternative currencies" are:
Respect
You have to give it to get it is a common saying.
Give people respect and see how it changes the situation or your outlook and see where that takes you.
You may be surprised to find that people might like you more if you take the chance to give a little respect instead of demanding it from them upfront.
Ideas
Ideas can be valueable.
People need help coming up with new and innovate things.
Or ideas can make life more interesting when you come up with an idea to try something new or different.
At the end of the day, share your ideas for free, because it is better than trying to sell them.
People will see that you care about them and want to help.
Relationships / Networking
We discussed how knowing the right people can help you in finding a place to work.
But also having a good network and good relationships can help you in other ways too.
Being friendly opens up a world of experiences and plenty of opportunity to go places you never thought you would go.
The ability to get along well with others will return great rewards!
Volunteering / Helping
Another great thing to value is volunteering and helping others.
Even if it is only a small amount of time, the compassion you show can make a big difference in someone’s life.
It is easy in this world to get caught up with all the things that need to get done, but finding a way to get outside yourself and help someone else will always be worth it!
Caring / Sharing
Sadly people often don’t care about other people.
Actually caring about someone and sharing with them can create a wealth of riches beyond anything money can buy.
Trust
Gaining and keeping trust in others matters in having healthy relationships.
Without it, it is hard to build bonds and to get to a place beyond exchanging pleasantries and other surface conversations.
Inspiring / Encouragement / Motivation
People can often use a kind word to help them throughout their day.
In this world we have all sorts of negativity coming our way from every angle.
Be different.
Be the person people want to talk to because they know there is a silver-lining of hope in this world.
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We covered many different ideas of what could be an “alternative currency”, but there is sure to be more!
Whatever it is that you can come up with that matters to you can be your own most valuable thing and we encourage you to find ways to change your lifestyle to live for your currency.
Once you find out what moves you, it is important to look at what makes others move.
Finding ways to get what you want won't work unless you help others get what they want.
There are tons of inspirational quotes on this such as this one from Zig Ziglar's Secrets of Closing The Sale: “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
Sounds simple enough.
But do you have to actually care about others?
Yes to be successful you do.
Taking this path of life isn’t always easy, but we think it will ultimately be well worth the effort!
Next week we will take a look at Avoiding Burn Out. Most all of us have been there. We are beyond stuck. We are burnt out!
But what can we do about it?
Stay tuned.
Stay interesting.
Stay Strange.
in The Billion Hero Challenge!
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See the latest adventures and creations from my wife Sarah on steemit!
Also Check Out Some of My Other Posts:
Do you want to take out a loan to consolidate debt?
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If you use my Credible Referral link, you can get a special offer if you take out a loan.
So true! Our network is so valuable.
Thanks Ann, it seems that is truer than even here on steemit!
yes, we can really join together and do some great stuff as we've seen! :)