MarkRMorrisJr.com

I tend to think of myself in terms of how many people show up for me in daily life. This is probably my fault, as I keep a tight circle, so a lot of people don't engage with me. From time to time, however, I'm reminded there are people out there watching me who appreciate what I'm doing,  if from a distance.



So, what is it that I do? I share my mind. Yeah, sometimes it is obnoxious as hell. Sometimes I get angry and treat someone like a jerk because I think their ideas are garbage. Not the person, their ideas. All people are equally valuable. Think about it.

When you hear the price of gold is currently $1300 an ounce, or that Bitcoin is just over $4000, it sounds impressive, right? If you look closer, you'll realize the price of both commodities is based on their potential, not intrinsic value.

What do I mean. 

It's simple, really, think of it like this. If you found yourself on a desert island, with a thousand ounces of gold, but you knew you had to float your ass off that island, what value would it have? None, or maybe even a negative value to you in that moment, because taking on extra 62 lbs of weight you can't eat, drink or even shelter yourself from the sun with makes no sense, does it? Of course not.

Dig a hole and bury it, and now it has value again. How? Well, if things go well, you can return and claim your million in gold, right? I mean, even if you have to split it with some skipper to sail you back out, it still has potential value.

So, what are you worth?

So, what about you? What are you worth? What can you do? What do you know, what do you bring to the table right now? Not in some ideal world, but right here in this one. You'd probably start with your marketable skills, diplomas, certifications, investments. But I'm asking about you. The intrinsic value of YOU. Just you.

If all you had was the information stored in the gray matter behind your ears, what would it be worth? I  have a rough idea of myself, I have some pretty decent skills. I can build things. That's almost always of value, I'm fairly strong, even though I'm getting older, I've spent time in some extreme conditions, so I acclimate well.

But, we're not on a desert island, are we? Out here in the real world, what sets us apart? What makes you you? It's not your education, or your skills, there are plenty of people who have those. It's not your face, or your body, even if they're damn near perfect, plenty of people have those too. It's your experience, your memories, your stories, your connections, the intangible things of life are what you'd have to rely on if the whole system just went belly up over night.

Sad thought, though, we don't put much value on those things  when life is good, do we? Instead, we use some list that everyone seems to have a copy of. We match up to others and compare ourselves to derive our value from our position in the food chain of people we perceive as valuable.