Value Meal
Value City Furniture, McDonald’s Value Meal,Value Village etc. Let’s talk about the word value.
Life update: As a writer, producer, director, jounalist, fashion icon, you know all the things, January has been very new for me. I slowed down my life, increased attention to my health, and prioritized my routines for better beauty maintenance, higher energy, and higher productivity. With all of this, I had an honest conversation with my career consultant and myself about discipline. I’ve been a master of self-discipline all my life until last year—I simply did not care about anything anymore. In wondering why I was struggling to complete big goals and small tasks, I learned that discipline has a direct connection to value.
Oxford Languages defines value as:
the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
or
a person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life.
If you are having a hard time, I highly recommend assessing your personal values. I didn’t know what was important to me anymore (sounds crazy, I know), so I completed a questionnaire. First, you rate the things you think are important to you. Then, you rate how your day-to-day reflects those things. I found that most things I marked as important were just things that I felt “should” be important. I did not care about that sh** at all LOL. Well, didn’t value those things.
A well-known story on value is the whole “a bottle of water in a corner store does not cost the same in a sports stadium” thingy. This idea can ring today only because sellers KNOW the value of hydration, not just water itself.
Another lesson learned—My values stemmed from negative experiences. Hydration is valuable because f the alternative: dehydration (the negative experience in this example).
Hydration is actually what will sell at any price because no one wants to get too drunk because they didn’t hydrate and throw up at the Oriole’s game…omg…how embarrassing (this may or may not have happened to me). Of course, the presence of the thing (water) is valuable, but what is the absence of the thing leaving opportunity for? Ask yourself what does your absence to a project, relationship, or anything mean? What will happen? What won’t happen?
My point is good business strategy understands the importance of whatever it is that GIVES things value! I know I value myself, but not understanding what was important to me at this point in my life was keeping from being anchored in anything, disrupting my ability to complete tasks and make clear, confident decisions.
Lastly, just because your values are lost or different, doesn’t mean you hate yourself. It’s not a bad or uncommon thing. You’re changing and growing! Every year rent increases. When the pandemic was here, Lysol was expensive! This is business, things go up and down. When you change, make sure you keep up with the new version of you. Then, set your price and live your life!