Imagine two situations; 1) finding ?1000, that is yours to keep with no strings attached and 2) earning ?1000 through hard-work.
I'm curious - is there any difference between the value of them? Do you consider one to be worth more than the other? Is there any difference in how you would spend them?
Are they different to you in some way? You can do exactly the same thing with them. I wonder if you really would. Well if you do attach a different value to them you could be missing out; read on to learn how to get more for free!
My point in all this questioning is that if we only value the 'things' that we have to work hard for there is a danger that the 'things' that we can have with ease just pass us by - they are unvalued and do not grab our attention. These 'things' are not just money of course but skills, knowledge, relationships to name a few; they are all valuable assets.
The secret of success is to consider this all in two parts:
1) the value of it - that is how well it meets your needs, not just monetary value. This applies whether it was easy to come by or not.
2) the recognition of the achievement in attaining it. Some things can be harder to acquire than others and we should reward ourselves through recognition when we acquire such things.
You see, it is worth the same whether you had to acquire new skills or resources to get it or rely on the existing (carefully honed) ones that you take for granted.
How about if, from now on, you recognise what you have for what it is worth and separately for what it took to achieve it. Seeing it as two parts will open your awareness to the things that you can have that are already available to you without effort. When you see yourself making these changes and getting different results be sure to thank yourself. Your mind wants to please you and likes gratitude. In return it will do it all the more for you.
Mark Spall is a Coach and Leadership trainer and delivers his materials through a variety of innovative mediums. More on Mark can be found at <a href="http://www.markspall.co.uk" title="http://www.markspall.co.uk" target="_blank">http://www.markspall.co.uk</a>. Mark is the founder of the Agile Leader Network (<a href="http://www.agile-leader.com" title="http://www.agile-leader.com" target="_blank">http://www.agile-leader.com</a>), a knowledge base and support network for young people who wish to achieve their best.
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