In her famous book, The Five-Minute Writer, Margret Geragthy recounts a story told by Jilly Cooper about a male friend who attended a party where no one was paying him any attention. He turned to the nearest lady and casually mentioned that he was a gynecologist on his way to an international fertility conference.
That was a lie, of course. But surprisingly—and quite unexpectedly—it had the desired effect:
Wow. That’s both hilarious and sad. Sad, because it was a lie. He wasn’t what he claimed to be. Yet, for a brief moment, he experienced paradise on earth. Why? Was it because he was rich? Nope. Was it because he was handsome? Not at all.
It was because he had something to offer.
Let’s be honest for a moment. Nature operates by laws—those invisible principles or systems that govern everything. And one of the most foundational of these laws is this: Nature abhors a vacuum. Say that again. This principle is the cornerstone of every reward or punishment system.
The rewards we receive in life, as Apostle Johnson Suleman aptly puts it, are directly proportional to three things:
a. The need or demand for what you do.
b. Your ability and proficiency in doing what needs to be done.
c. The difficulty of replacing you.
All of these point to one critical element: value.
No one desires less. Everyone wants a seat beside gold. But here’s the catch: this gold doesn’t have to be a rock or property. It can be you and me—but only if we are willing to pick ourselves up, go through the fire, and let ourselves be polished into the gold people will clamor for.
I’m rooting for you. You’ve got this.
@archpen
