What The Hell Is Value?
January 14th, 2009
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“I love Steve Pavlina. He is my dearest friend. If I had to spend the rest of my life on a desert island with only one other person, it would be Steve Pavlina, no doubt about it. I mean, you should see the way my face lights up when he walks into a room.
But at the same time, he’s also dangerously unbalanced. I mean let’s be frank, Steve Pavlina–and again, this is a man I would take a bullet for–is bad at his job, and mentally unstable. As my mother would say, God love him, but he’s a raging maniac. And a dear, dear friend.”
- Fake Joe Biden (paraphrased)
Steve Pavlina – now there’s a guy who polarizes people.
The National Debt Clock in New York ran out of digits on September 30, 2008, being unable to track the U.S. national debt once it passed $10 trillion. Since then, the clock has been used to track Steve Pavlina’s monthly visitors. He certainly gets a lot of them, and it seems that they all either love him or hate him. Sometimes both feelings occur in the same person.
I knew he had some critics, but until recently, I didn’t realize there were so many perfectly nice people who aren’t fans of Steve Pavlina. And while this puzzles me, it also offers a ray of hope for those who want to provide value.
About a year and a half ago, I had been reading ProBlogger for a while, and I was thinking about starting a blog. But what would the topic be? Darren said that while many people were starting blogs about blogging itself, most of them were failing because it was a severely overcrowded niche. He said there were niches like digital photography that paid much better, and didn’t have a lot of competition.
So I thought about starting a blog about digital photography. There were only two problems: (1) I didn’t know anything about digital photography, and (2) I didn’t intend to. Would that be a show stopper?
But when I came across Steve Pavlina, I saw that you don’t necessarily have to decide on a tightly focused niche. You could blog about “personal development,” which is basically anything that makes you a better person. Now that was interesting to me.
Still, I ran into a problem. Steve was already dominating that niche, and continuing to get better every day. He was an expert on some concepts I hadn’t even heard of before. How could I possibly compete with him?
I decided that I didn’t have to be better, just good enough. I wasn’t going to beat him at doing what he does, but maybe I could do things a little differently, and maybe there was room in the blogosphere for two blogs on personal development. (It now seems absurd to me that I was ever concerned about that.)
In her ebook How I Built A Profitable Freelance Business for Under $50 (And How You Can Too!), Christine O’Kelly said that there are people who are willing to pay for every level of expertise. Even if you’re not the best, you might be exactly what someone needs. You might not get the highest possible rate, but you could still be successful.
That was specifically about freelancing, but it’s also true in general. There’s room in this world for multiple skill levels. You don’t need to be the best parent to provide value as a parent, or the best comedian to provide value as a comedian. Most positions have multiple openings, so you don’t need to be the best. You don’t want to simply be a worse version of the best, but if you’re somehow different from the best, or cheaper than the best, then sometimes good enough is good enough.
So I figured that I could start a personal development blog, and while I wouldn’t be Steve Pavlina, maybe I could be good enough that I could provide value anyway. This is important, so I’ll put it in bold.
Major point #1: You don’t have to be the best, or even close to the best, in order to provide value.
That seems obvious to me now, and perhaps it seems obvious to you as well. But at the time, my thinking was clouded because I was projecting myself onto my potential readers. At the time, I was subscribed to maybe 5 blogs, and I thought that was plenty. I certainly had no interest in reading another blog that was remotely similar to those 5, especially if it wasn’t as good.
But that’s not how my readers were thinking. They were thinking “I want to be nice and support this new blogger,” or “I want to read as many blogs as I can,” or any of a number of other things that would make me “good enough” in their eyes.
There are lots of people devaluing themselves by saying “my idea has already been done” or “nobody would hire me when they could hire him instead.” But remember that your value is not judged by you, it’s judged by the people you’ll offer it to. What you see as being worse than the absolute best may very well be good enough to them.
But what really came as a shock to me is this:
Major point #2: People can have completely insane opinions about who the best is.
I’m not talking about matters like chocolate vs. vanilla, where there’s no right or wrong answer because it’s just a matter of preference. I’m talking about all the people who think Steve Pavlina is a bad blogger. It makes no sense.
It’s like saying Britney Spears is a better singer than Frank Sinatra, or Timothy Dalton was the best Bond. I guess these are technically valid opinions, because we can’t objectively disprove them. But how could anyone agree with them? And yet, plenty of people do.
In the same way that less is sometimes more, worse is sometimes better. Of course, no one would actually see it as worse being better. They’d just disagree about what “better” means. Value is highly subjective.
The good news: Putting both of these major points together, we see that anyone can provide tremendous value.
Even if you think lots of people are better than you, that really doesn’t mean anything. If you don’t need to be the best, and if people have all kinds of opinions about who the best is anyway, that means you always have a chance.
OK, but what is value? We’d all like to know what it is, so we can provide it. Here’s a definition:
Value is whatever people are willing to pay for.
That payment need not be in the form of money, though that’s an easy way to understand it. If you pay $3 for a hot dog, then clearly the hot dog is worth at least $3 to you, or you wouldn’t have bought it.
Maybe you’re really hungry, so you pay an outrageous $10 for a hot dog. Maybe you say the hot dog’s not really worth $10, but you’re just really hungry. Still, in your state at the time, the hot dog was worth $10 to you, or you wouldn’t have bought it. No one ever voluntarily buys something that doesn’t have greater value to them than the money it costs. (Well, at least expected value. Sometimes we make mistakes.)
Besides money, you can pay for something with your time. You don’t have to pay money to read this post, but you do have to pay with your time. Obviously you think this post will provide more value than the time it takes to read it. (If not, then why would you read it?)
You can pay for something with your attention. If you’re stuck in traffic, the time is lost anyway. But you can still decide what you do with your attention. If you turn on the radio, you expect it to provide more value than just sitting there and thinking. Whatever station you put it on, you expect it to provide more value than the stations you’re not listening to.
You can also pay for something with your reputation, security, self respect, or whatever it costs you to make that choice. Whatever the method of payment, the thing you’re buying always has greater expected value than what you’re paying for it, or you wouldn’t buy it.
So then, how do we create something that people are willing to pay for? How do we create value? I’ve thought about the rules for providing value before, and it’s tough to figure this out. For one thing, people don’t really know what they want.
On The Simpsons, when ratings for The Itchy and Scratchy Show were down, they ran a focus group to figure out how to make the show better. The guy asked the kids, “Okay, how many of you kids would like Itchy and Scratchy to deal with real-life problems, like the ones you face every day?” The kids all cheered. The guy then asked, “And who would like to see them do just the opposite – getting into far-out situations involving robots and magic powers?” Again, the kids all cheered. So what did they really want?
In January 2008, if you asked a bunch of people what kind of blog they wanted to read, I doubt any of them would have said they wanted to read a scientific approach to highlight and explain stuff white people like. And yet, when Christian Lander launched his blog Stuff White People Like, it was an instant success, getting 20 million hits in the first couple of months. It’s been described as “more viral than the flu,” and Christian reportedly got a $300,000 advance for his book deal.
I was subscribed to it for a while, trying to figure out why it was so popular. Yes, it was funny, but it was a one trick pony. You would read one post and laugh, then read a few more posts and laugh less, because they’re all the same joke. And then it seems that you’d be done with it. I could see why some people might become loyal subscribers, but why did it take off so much faster than the automobile, or Google, or the cell phone? Even Christian Lander says he isn’t sure.
We know the value must be there, or people wouldn’t pay for it with their time. But it’s hard for me to see it. Maybe you can see it, but you can probably think of other extremely popular things where you can’t figure out what the value is. If we don’t know value when we see it, how can we create it?
In How to Create Real Value, Steve Pavlina says you know you’re creating value when you see tangible positive changes in the world as a result of what you’re doing. He gives these examples of changes his readers experienced because of his blog:
- One couple started a successful business selling inspirational t-shirts, because of a post about not having a job.
- Someone’s father lost 70 pounds, because of some posts about raw foods.
- A reader finally got a girlfriend, because of a post about soulful relationships.
- Another person moved to Las Vegas and loves it, because of a post about the city.
- And someone else had their first lucid dream, because of a podcast about that.
As opposed to comments like “great post,” these are tangible positive changes, and clear signs of strong value. However, what if the outcomes had been different?
- What if the t-shirt business failed, and the couple got divorced?
- What if that person’s father gained 70 pounds and became diabetic?
- What if the reader lost his girlfriend and started hating women?
- What if the person who moved to Las Vegas hated it?
- What if the person who had their first lucid dream went into a coma?
Some of these aren’t too likely, but my point is that things can go either way. If something doesn’t work out, are you responsible for creating a tangible negative change?
It wouldn’t be right to blame Steve for a negative outcome that was triggered by his blog, because the ultimate responsibility rests with the reader. So if he can’t be blamed for negative outcomes, how much credit can he get for positive outcomes?
Another thing is that strong value does not necessarily produce tangible positive changes. Stuff White People Like provides strong value, judging from its tremendous popularity. But what tangible positive changes does it create? Making millions of people laugh is strong value, but it’s not a tangible positive change.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t aspire to create tangible positive changes, just that it’s not a perfect judge of value.
I can’t say that I’ve experienced any tangible positive changes from Steve’s blog. But I’ve definitely experienced intangible positive changes. I’ve also experienced one tangible change (starting this blog), but its success or failure remains to be seen. Yet I know for sure I get strong value from his blog, which is why I continue to pay for it with my time.
In a comment on my post Being Emphatically Wishy-Washy, Akemi Gaines said:
“I was thinking about you, Hunter, when I was reading Steve’s recent posts on how to make money in recession by creating and delivering value and what it is to create strong value. In the latter article, he insists to make your point — in other words, to not to be wishy washy. Because wishy washy doesn’t deliver much value.
I mostly agree with Steve (yes, my blog will have a stronger edge!), but at the same time, I was thinking about your blog and why I like it.
You deliver different kind of value. I hope you don’t take offense about this, but I don’t read your blog to get another personal development tips. I know all the tips you discuss (except about SEO and tech stuff). But I like your blog because you have a way to lighten up my mood. I LOVE your sense of humor. That is value.
It doesn’t matter whether you take what you call a “strong tone” as you say in this post. You are still funny.
Now think about it. In this stressful time, is delivering a few moments of smile valuable? Absolutely. Steve doesn’t make me smile, and I don’t go there to smile. I go there to learn. Two different objectives.”
What I got from this (aside from the fact that I need to increase the difficulty level for Akemi) is that people are free to decide what value they get from something.
I didn’t start this blog with the intent of making people smile, but if that’s what someone gets from it, great. If someone gets something different, that’s great too. I’m not going to say that someone’s getting the wrong kind of value from me. If they get something, anything, that’s wonderful.
However, I wish I had a better handle on how to create value, so I could do more of it. Which brings me to another point.
Major point #3: You might not be sure how to create value, but let that be your goal anyway.
Christian Lander, creator of Stuff White People Like, said that if he were given a budget of $500 million and told to duplicate his success, he couldn’t do it. He just doesn’t know enough about what went right the first time.
He doesn’t know how to create major value, despite having done it before. So for those of us who haven’t created something like the pet rock, Pokémon, or Harry Potter, how can we possibly learn how to do it? How can we figure out a game where the rules seem so random?
We might not have a roadmap, but we can try stumbling in the right direction. Try doing something that you think people will like. If it doesn’t create tangible positive change, maybe it will still make them better off in some way. If something works, do more of it. If something doesn’t work, try to figure out why. Maybe you need to change something. Maybe you just need to try it again.
If you maintain the goal of creating value, you’re bound to keep getting better at it. Just remember that you’re not the one who decides what has value – it’s the other people. Unfortunately, they don’t know what they want.
The good news is that nobody starts off having any idea how to create value. Even people who create strong value once often can’t do it again, hence the term “one-hit wonder.” If there were a simple formula for creating value, everyone would do it. But since there’s not a formula, you can be one of the few who tries.
Homework for Akemi only:
Prove that there is no rational number r such that r2 = 2.
January 15th, 2009 at 12:28 am
OMG! I was going to say, “I hope the way Hunter increases the difficulty level is not about more puzzles” Hate puzzles. Hate math even worse.
Let me tell you, blogging the Steve Pavlina way is tough. Even Steve himself doesn’t always impress me. And because, as I said, the reason I read his blog is to learn, I get disappointed or even pissed off when I don’t learn something new by reading through his admittedly lengthy posts.
On the other hand, I hardly ever get disappointed here. (If it’s about a puzzle, I just skip!) Instead I get such a good laugh. I mean, who can assign me a personal homework?
Now I need to do two things:
1. Contemplate the value I may be delivering with my Akashic Record Reading (I’d like to think there is some value, but not quite sure what. Clarity? Empowerment? Hope? Change?)
2. Find someone who can help me with my homework. (I’ll twitter around)
Keep up the good work,
Luv,
January 15th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Oh, and I agree that we learn by doing.
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” – Goethe
January 15th, 2009 at 1:00 am
Hunter, the last line of your post… lmao
Ariel – You Are Truly Loved´s last blog post..The Coolest Restaurant Menu Ever!
January 15th, 2009 at 4:08 am
Hi Hunter. I don’t usually get all the way through extra long posts such as this. But this one took me. Your comment “…my idea has already been done” or “nobody would hire me when they could hire him instead” is something I’ve been working on.
I force myself to visit blogs where I feel intimidated by the value I see there. I look for what is there that I do see value in, and learn to appreciate it as unique.
When I get a charge from this feeling and feel my self-esteem take a dive, I KNOW there is something inside of me that needs a “tune-up”. I keep re-affirming to myself that there is no other Davina. I am my niche. People will be attracted to me and what I have to offer because of their connection to me. And I’m really starting to like what I see in the mirror. Things are starting to click!
Great post!
Davina´s last blog post..Self Help Me
January 15th, 2009 at 4:26 am
Steve also said, that the main reason we are here is to make a choice: How we polarize. Do you
create something, or do you absorb what others created? If that’s what it’s all about it may not
really matter what you create. Others will decide. It only matters how much energy you put into it,
by loving what you do. If you really love what you do, you tend to be succesful. People get
energized too when they come into contact with your creation.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:15 am
I have had the exact same dilemma when I wanted to start a blog, whether to start a niche blog so I’ll attract a ‘proper’ audience or to write on anything that relates to me and leave it to serendipity. I chose the later, because I realised that there’s probably tons of niche blogs already on every possible topic, and in marketing we always preach on the USP (unique selling point), which I thankfully realised, what makes us unique, are ourselves.
And that is the value we seek to bring to someone else. It may just one single person, but the knowledge that we have once touched another person’s heart/soul is priceless.
Winnie Lim´s last blog post..Think your life was crap? Watch this.
January 15th, 2009 at 7:53 am
Hunter that’s an iexcellent post and thanks for the link… I think.
I say I think, because I’m not sure I want to be associated with hating anybody and I certainly do NOT Hate Steve Pavlina or anything even close to that. I’m not sure any of the people that commented do either.
There was a few behind the scenes e-mails with Steve as I think you know and he followed up with a post of his own the following day that was at best economical with the truth and at worst dishonest in terms of those e-mails.
To point that out doesn’t mean I hate him, it means I don’t want others to be misled the way I was. I can’t remember anybody commenting about him that hadn’t read his stuff at some stage and then been turned off by it. They made intelligent decisions based on their own opinions and beliefs not on some irrational hatred.
A strong opinion is a world away from hatred imho.
I felt I had to say that even though the point of your post was not really about that, sorry.
PS Believing Dalton was the best Bond is not a valid opinion
Tim Brownson´s last blog post..Be A Career Renegade
January 15th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Funny, I had the same thought the other day and wrote a post about being great rather than the best.
Something in the air I suppose!
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome´s last blog post..The number one spot is for losers
January 15th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I will not comment on the Steve Pavlina part of this article.
I will just suggest a simpler approach: just think of how many connections a value can have and use only this metric. Hint: having a job means selling your time to only one connection, your boss. Freelancing is a step ahead: you sell your time to many other people, but mainly in a linear way, so it’s still a one connection value.
Having a blog is a multiple connections value: you don’t sell your time, you sell your expertise to as many people as can you get.
Specific expertise on a specific field is something that can be learned. Value, on the other hand, is more than expertise. It requires some risk taking and genuine sharing. At the deepest level, providing value is an exchange of energies…
[shameless plug] I wrote a full post on my blog – interestingly enough, this was just several days ago, so it seems the concept of value is quite emerging on our “collective unconscious” as Jung would call it – here is the link: creating value.
Liked your post, by the way
Dragos Roua´s last blog post..The Making Of An Online Business – The Series
January 15th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
@ Akemi, it’s so hard making everyone happy all the time, you know? Too easy, too hard, more puzzles, less puzzles, more math, less math, etc. I figure that we should just do what we think is best, and accept that not everyone will like everything. You get pissed off when you don’t learn something from Steve’s posts? That’s pretty harsh.
There must be value in your Akashic record readings, because of how popular they are. But this is a case where it’s hard for the clients to describe what the value is. In many cases, they won’t even know, they’ll just have a sense of the value. Sorry, I can’t really help you there! I believe in your value though.
And hey, no cheating on your homework! And you don’t have to do it, just admit that you don’t know everything!
@ Ariel, you’re just glad it wasn’t assigned to you, right?
@ Davina, that’s right, there is no other Davina. Even if there is another Davina, that’s a different Davina! And no one will have the exact same connection with someone else that they do with you.
@ Thomas, you’ve touched on something I’m going to talk about in another post. But I’ll save the surprise for later!
@ Winnie, I realized that I really couldn’t start a niche blog. Even now, I can’t think of any niche that I’d want to write about over and over, while ignoring everything else. Of course, there are many successful niche blogs, but they’re not right for everyone. But even if you have a broad focus, it’s important to be unique, which we inherently are anyway.
@ Tim, I meant “hate” not in the sense of irrational desire to cause harm, but more like “I hate the Dallas Cowboys” or “I hate when my zipper gets stuck.” I’ve now changed the link to say “people who aren’t fans of Steve Pavlina.” It’s less direct and not as good for SEO, but it removes any ambiguity arising from the word “hate.”
Timothy Dalton wasn’t your favorite Bond? Oh, you must be a George Lazenby fan then!
@ Alex, if it’s something in the air, then the air apparently circulates extremely well between the U.S. and U.K. We’ll be sure to cover our mouths when we cough.
@ Dragos, thinking about the number of people you impact is a good metric. That’s why I think RSS subscriber numbers are so important. A lot of people say if you connect with even one person, you’ve done a good thing. True, but wouldn’t it be better to share the wealth?
January 15th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
… I don’t know everything. Especially the math. And what may wait for us in 2012.
And I think you got the teacher attitude since you got the sub teacher gig at Barbara’s blog.
January 15th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
I wish I have that amount of insight when I first started exploring the web for what to do. I learned mine the hard way. I started out on niches that I had only fair but not deep interest in. It was difficult to sustain them. And you are right. Most niche blogs pretty much sprout out the same advice.
Value is created when we add our perspectives and share our experiences. It’s hard to measure what is tangible or intangible, in my opinion. Also, you don’t really know how many lives you are affecting until someone writes in a feedback.
I like the idea of stumbling around but I’d like to do so in a divinely guided way. In this manner, I am allowing myself to be adventurous, go with the flow and yet, get a nudge if I am about to embark into something that is not aligned with my highest path.
Thanks for sharing a great piece of article, Hunter. You’ve certainly invoked a lot of thoughts. Stumbled!
Evelyn Lim´s last blog post..Mouths Are Flapping
January 16th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
I found huge value from Steve Pavlina’s site when he linked to my “How to Be a Woman” post.
Seriously. He emailed me and shared some words of encouragement. I re-read that email on occasion. The link was nice, the email was the real value.
Squawkfox´s last blog post..Free Printable Workout Log
January 17th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Hi Hunter,
Anyone that gets me to read a long post these days is providing a lot of value. Anyone that writes a post good enough to make me take my time to comment is providing a lot of value. Hunter, you provide a lot of value to me!
Logic sequences aside, I think people have to become more like scientists. And test and refine what their unique value added contribution to the world is going to be. It may change over time, but I also believe in the idea that most value is timeless.
People go to Christian’s site because they are curious and want a laugh. I don’t think they go because they really care what white people think.
In any case, I think this conversation can and should be broadened so we can discuss how we can add more value to the world. Would you be up for a group writing project on the topic?
Cheers,
Jeremy
Jeremy Day´s last blog post..In Praise of Lifelong Learning
January 17th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
@ Akemi, I never knew 2012 was supposed to be important until recently. Now I’m hearing several people talking about it. Yes, I think I got the teacher attitude from Barbara!
@ Evelyn, I guess working in the wrong niches helped you figure out what was best for you, instead of sitting around and hoping the answer would magically come to you. And it appears that you may have received some divine guidance during your niche stumbling!
@ Squawkfox, I remember you were high in the “How to Be a Woman” rankings – Steve’s #1 pick, if I recall correctly. That’s great that he emailed you, and I can understand how valuable you’d find that email.
@ Jeremy, this post turned out to be a little longer than I planned, but I’m glad that didn’t scare everyone off! The group writing project sounds interesting! I’ll email you.
January 17th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Group writing project? What’s that about? I’d love to read more on this topic. It’s a very important topic, and — did I say I LOVE reading pretty much anything Hunter writes (sans puzzles)?
January 18th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Here are the details of Jeremy’s group writing project on creating value:
http://www.insightwriter.com/2009/01/17/group-writing-project-creating/
January 18th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Hunter – I LOVE what you say here: “Even if you think lots of people are better than you, that really doesnt mean anything. If you dont need to be the best, and if people have all kinds of opinions about who the best is anyway, that means you always have a chance.”
I think that a lot of people who have a lot to offer the world are also perfectionists… and because of that, many of us will never bring to the world what we could because we are terrified of not being the best! I can’t even count how many times that stopped me. In fact, the only reason I got started doing many things in the first place, was because I didn’t know that anyone was out there doing it!
And by the way… I love Steve Pavlina!
GREAT post!
Christine´s last blog post..How I Ranked A Brand New Site In Google & Yahoos Top 10 Within 3 Weeks
January 18th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
I kinda feel like.. the problem you’re having with figuring out how to create value has more to do with you’re point of view then anything else…. its like an effect of the silly language you’re using.. which is like.. this silly language that so many people are using these days..
You see the truth is we are all creating value all the time without even realizing it. I’m frankly not sure that there’s any reason why you REALLY need to even become conscious of it or understand it.. but I’ll give you a theory anyway..
People have all kinds of needs. If you really think deeply about it.. these needs exist on an almost alchemical level.. like grains.. and whatever you say you need.. or even what you simply will.. down to the smallest thing, is an expression of some part of those needs.. these needs exist in us in a kind of ecological way.. you could address one set of needs all day.. till the strength of those needs becomes.. much less then other needs..
The psychology of a midd life crisis is one where we organize our live out of a certain sense of needs.. and one way or another the ecology shifts.. and before you know it a whole other set of needs starts thumping at your door.
If you aggregate these needs across the population.. you see something like the expression of a market system.. which, in it’s interaction with supply and demand.. sorta defines value.. it also an underlying force of social cohesion.. and hierarchy..
That’s the kind of 101 of it.. after that it can start getting complicated..
But basically I think over thinking what you’re niche is sorta silly. Conventionally you want to triangulate where you’re passions, skills, and the market place is.. but on planet social media.. in the land of the micro niche.. its as if conventional notions of business were all based on Newtonian physics.. and in social media we have to deal with quantum mechanics.. which is to say mico niches.. if they are really.. ultimately expressions of granular needs.. the behavior of the grains is different then… well the planet traditional business works on.
And that’s what I really meant about your silly language.. that a lot of it has is people trying to understand quantum theory with newtonian physics..
So.. I kinda think the best thing to do is to sorta throw out market niche preconceptions and making it an adventure of pursuing you’re passions.. which is not you don’t care about such thing, but that you subordinate it to your passions.. because following you’re passions is what leads to the realization of your true potential.. and its sorta thing of having faith that you’re passions will take you where you need to go.. I mean.. ultimately, don’t you kind of think the who point of economic success is to facilitate you’re passions?
Well that’s my thoughts anyway.
January 19th, 2009 at 9:07 am
AHA!
Seriously, this was an “aha!” moment. Mini-epiphany. Whatever.
This article, and the idea of different levels of expertise, was a very good thoughtspark. Thanks for writing it!
Mark Dykeman´s last blog post..Book Review – The Road Less Traveled – M. Scott Peck
January 19th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
@ Christine, perfectionism is a huge action killer, isn’t it? Not to say that anyone should be sloppy, but some people could stand to be a little more forgiving of themselves. Less than perfect can still be pretty great.
@ Matt,
“You see the truth is we are all creating value all the time without even realizing it.”
That’s kind of true, but not really. If we were all masters of creating value, then no one would need a job, because money would just be gushing in effortlessly. Billions of people are struggling because it’s far from obvious how to create significant value.
“Im frankly not sure that theres any reason why you REALLY need to even become conscious of it or understand it.”
So that we can do it better. While you can create value by accident, it stands to reason that focusing on creating value will work better than just seeing what happens.
“But basically I think over thinking what youre niche is sorta silly.”
I’m not saying to overthink it, just to make a good decision. Since you can’t change your niche very easily, it’s a huge help to get it right the first time.
@ Mark, that’s great! A mini-epiphany is a sure sign of value!
January 26th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
[...] of thinking how you can make more money (being profit driven) think about how you can be of greater value (being value driven). Knowing how you are valuable and how to demonstrate that to others will [...]
January 31st, 2009 at 6:07 pm
[...] dear friend Hunter Nuttall wrote “What The Hell Is Value?” and gave me a special treatment of homework. A very special attention to me out of his [...]
February 10th, 2009 at 11:41 am
[...] the comment section of that post, I conversed with Hunter Nuttall, who I so respect and adore: Akemi: Really? You still see lack? Give me an example and I’ll [...]
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:17 pm
OMG! YOU DID NOT GIVE HER ALGEBRA! That’s just cruel! Lol.
I learned a lot from this one
It’s was quite inspiring. I can’t recall having heard anything to the effect of your value lecture, definitely nothing I’ve agreed so with.
& Btw. I think I would choose you over Steve for slightly the same reason as Akemi said your good. The difference being that even though I do find you amusing, I also learn much here. I think it’s easier to learn in a laid back way.
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:45 pm
@ Lori, algebra isn’t cruel, it’s fun!
Glad you would choose me over Steve, but I also think that we often don’t have to choose one thing over another – we can use different things for different reasons.