What do you value most in your life? How do you determine value? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“You cannot talk your way out of something you behaved yourself into.”
“Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand.”
“We are drowning in information and starving for knowledge.”
Barry’s Watch
I own a Warner Brothers watch given to me by my wife over 20 years ago.
It shows Sylvester the Cat using a toothpick with Tweety Bird inside still very much alive.
What makes this watch extra special is that it has a small button on the side that illuminates the face in the dark or when the light is low. I refer to it as my “Lighten up” watch, to remind me to not be so serious and engage in life with a more playful spirit.
This watch has been sitting in a drawer and has not been worn since the beginning of the pandemic.
Fortunately, I seem to have developed an internal light that illuminates my life and lets me know what’s truly important.
What are your thoughts about today’s quote?
What is your current relationship with time?
What do you consider your wisest investments of this precious resource?
Please reply to this post if your care to share your perspective.
What do you value most in your life? How do you determine value? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“We are drowning in information and starving for knowledge.”
“Look not at the vessel, but at what it contains.”
James Webb Telescope Image from NASA.com
The James Webb telescope is a miraculous piece of technology that cost ten billion dollars and took over 25 years to create. It is 100 times more powerful than the Hubble telescope, which has transformed our knowledge and understanding of the universe for decades.
These devices use various frequencies of light to examine the past, based on the distance of diverse objects. With the finite speed of light being 186,000 miles per second, we can view the moon 1.3 seconds ago, our sun 8 minutes ago, and even distant galaxies over 13.5 billion years ago. With our awareness of our ever expanding and accelerating universe, we can also use computer simulations to look way into the future.
What value have you gained through lessons from the past?
What moments are you currently experiencing that you don’t want to miss?
What potential opportunities do you see for yourself and others as the future unfolds?
Image from Unsplash by Brett Jordan
If you are a blogger or happen to read some good ones, you know that the subject line of each message is critical. Our time is precious and we sure don’t want to waste it on useless ramblings and nonsense.
A metric many bloggers consider important is the open rate of each post. This metric helps let them know if their readers are finding their efforts of interest and value. Wit and cleverness are often used to hook readers at least temporarily to read further to hopefully grasp their messages and nuggets of wisdom.
From the people I know, like, and trust, just the subject line “Message from (their name)” is enough for me to read further, knowing that my previous interactions with them have earned my attention and interest.
Where and with whom would your name alone be key words in the subject line of an email to guarantee the open rate you desire?
Image from Unsplash by Sharon McCutcheon
In recent weeks, the subject of death has become more prominent than usual in my personal and professional communities.
The focus on being sincerely interested and seeking to fully understand others results in numerous deep and meaningful conversations.
Of particular interest were the beautiful and soulful discussions of how the passing of certain individuals with hearts of gold and other wondrous virtues has impacted the lives of so many.
How often do you look beyond the surface of the people you meet?
What value and beauty would you potentially discover by doing so, starting with those closest to you?
Image from Unsplash by Thought Catalog
I have a math problem for you on the subject of books. According to Google’s advanced algorithms, about 130 million books have been published in all of modern history.
Consider multiplying 130 million by the number of hours it takes you to read an average book, giving your reading speed. To keep it simple, let’s assume it takes you ten hours. Multiply 130 million by ten and you see that it would take you one billion, three hundred thousand hours to read all the books published in modern history.
Now let’s pretend you began reading at birth, and that, given advanced medical breakthroughs, you live to be 100.
If my math is correct, it would take 876,000 lifetimes to read them all – far more if you took time to sleep, work, eat, or do anything other than read.
As you examine your book tasting efforts, which new books, or perhaps a few oldies but goodies, are worth your valuable time in the years ahead?
Image from Unsplash by Square
Did you know that it takes 5-7 times the effort and resources to obtain new customers than to keep existing customers?
With this statistic in mind, how much effort have you and your organization focused on new customer acquisition rather than making sure your current customers are delighted with you, your products, and of course, your level of service?
Customer loyalty is worth billions, however, we often slack off on our best behaviors once we close the deal. Much like when we say our “I Do” to our life partners. Given the divorce rate of about 50%, we all can see the need to maintain and more appropriately improve these relationships if they are to prosper.
What are some ways you can and will double down on your levels of service in your professional and personal communities? What would be the value of the loyalty generated?
Image from Unsplash by Hans-Peter Gauster
Consider all the roles and responsibilities you have in a typical day. How is it that you create value in your professional and personal communities?
Which of these efforts create the greatest intrinsic and extrinsic value for others and at the same time bring the greatest joy and life satisfaction to you?
Consider the overlapping of these areas as your personal and professional brand or niche. How much of your day do you expend in these efforts versus those that feel like an obligation or burden?
What are your special talents and unique abilities that light you up and solve meaningful problems in the world?
How might you realign your daily efforts to spend far more of your precious time doing what you were meant to do?
Image from rentvine.com
Imagine you are given a special bank account when you are an infant, just learning to speak and understand language.
What you don’t know at the time is that the words you speak and hear have a form of value or credit to them. Some words contribute to your net worth, others drain and deplete your reserves. Some may even put you in debt, or a form of life bankruptcy.
Pay particular attention today to the words you speak and hear, personally and professionally. Notice how much value and wealth you create for yourself and others.
How can you fully listen and tune into the powerful and value-packed words of others? How can you more fully contribute to others by generously sharing only the richest and choicest thoughts?