What does it mean to be a person of value? Someone who will, to the best of their ability, fill in gaps where they are. A person of value does not fit job roles or descriptions and is not easily categorized. When you meet them, their value added to any team is not easily tangible. This is something I have always strived to be. I grow, test, and stretch my limits to find those opportunities. Let’s dive in and learn more about being a person that is striving to provide value.
Being a person who started life with no particular financial advantages and climbed to the point of being a respected software engineer, well-traveled adventurer, and aspiring business leader, I have something to say about providing value. I have read many books and taken to hard practice to be someone who can earn their upkeep in any situation. I’ve embraced many challenges to embrace growth and conquered many challenging mountains.
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What is value?
We must first understand value without shattering it into a complete philosophical domain. We perceive value in such a way that the amount of intrinsic benefit one receives from an asset. An asset is a relationship, tool, etc. People benefit each other as we are social animals and need one another to survive. To that degree, we all have different cultural values, skills, and experiences we uniquely bring to the table. Yet, as a group organism on a macro level, some are getting more attention, have done more with what they have, and climb the ladder better. Why is that?
The best way to describe this is that these individuals have provided more value to their community members. Hence, they receive more resources, power, and position because of their achievements. Society has often structured and succeeded at this idea of a “capitalistic” society that benefits those who succeed. However, we cannot all be at the top, nor can one jump to the top and be successful. One must have many cycles of growth and learning to get to the point where one can break barriers and create a path.
A person who strives to provide value does not take a job, create a business, or perform a task in such a way things are black and white. Instead, they try to understand the very nature of what they are committing to. They observe where the needs are and try to capitalize their skills, time, and energy there, as that is where they will find people ready to embrace the benefits of what they offer.
Observing the pain points
Starting with the pain points, a person who strives to provide value must first begin to observe the very nature of the systems they are in and take notes of the social autonomy, rules, and other systems at play. Then, they must ask why and hypothesize how these systems came to be. The truth may not always be achievable, but the seeking of truth will yield benefits. Once you have achieved a base understanding, you will start understanding where things are weak. These issues may come as complaints, unmet goals, or disappointment with progress. This is an opportunity.
Being a person who strives for value, this is where you may be able to rise to the challenge of filling those holes. You may need to be willing to have a diverse skill set, learn new skill sets, or have the right folks backing you with those skill sets to help make headway. However, once you have uncovered a pain point, you will be noticed, and your solution will gain traction.
Of course, this is a mass simplification. However, it is the start of getting the gears fired up in your life. Can you ponder amongst your social status, employer, co-workers, colleagues, friends, or family what their pain points are? What could you do to learn more? If you invested time to fill those needs, could value be had?
Using a stable moral compass
Being a person looking to produce value puts you at the head of innovation and leading change. However, with that comes a great weight of bearing responsibility as someone who provides value could be providing the wrong kind of value. For example, a person capitalizing a fair amount of money by being a land shark and forcing individuals out of homes and land may be providing value to themselves or an employer. However, ultimately, they are causing more harm than good to society. Often, a person providing such value is one tug of a rug away from losing their value, and the balance of justice is hard to contend with.
Thus, a person who strives to provide value must have strong scrumples and a sense of a stable moral compass. You must think of right and wrong and understand where you want to stand. I hope for the benefit of all humankind. More of us stand firm with looking to provide value that benefits all of humankind in a direction versus clear re-distribution of wealth or power. We must always keep our thoughts clear and aim to achieve things that benefit us all. In such a statement, it can be a lot of shades of gray, but if we are all aiming to think about and question this matter, we will be going a long way.
Learning along the way
One cannot hope to be a person of value if one sees things as black and white in how they do so. Job titles, role boundaries, etc., limit your ability to provide value. Often, these things are guidelines, but the spirit of the guidelines should always at least be questioned. With that said, you must be willing to continuously grow and learn along the way to pick up new skills, learn new information, and be able to pivot your identity to start providing value where opportunities arise. No society will necessarily halt progress once it sees something is genuinely beneficial. However, you need to provide it.
You must commit to a life of flexibility and growth, always trying to explore and expand what you think you know. Only through this constant growth will you be willing to overcome hurdles and boundaries met along the way. You may not be able to succeed on your own, either. Invest in people you meet along your journey, as they may be your greatest allies in filling your gaps in knowledge, skillsets, and experience. A person of value must be able to fill the need, which does not explicitly mean on their own.
In Conclusion
Today’s article is a bit more philosophical but coming from my good heart as I’ve tried to philosophize all of this in the past and boil it down to how I might be able to share it with others. I hope to see more of us worldwide seeking to be individuals and people of value. Pushing the limits of what humankind can commit to in direction and practice.
I can rightfully say I’ve made many mistakes along my life journey, but I have made many achievements. Also, I have never felt truly happy accepting things as they are. I always look for where I can contribute the most. My whole life can be summed up as stepping stones for my growth and how I’ve pushed myself to embrace more extensive and larger steps. I cannot envision a time when I will stop, but I hope to see more follow my direction and even exceed it once I can no longer climb higher.
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