The C.A.T. Principle – Global Ebook Awards GOLD & SILVER Winner for Best Self-Help Non-Fiction Ebook of 2014 & 2016

Are You Value-Oriented?

Value – that most appealing word that we all cherish and seek out. We seek value in the things we buy, in the food we eat, in the walls we live, and in the places we go, but how many of us seek value in ourselves? To be sure, we live in a time where self-love has never been greater, or so it seems. Tune into Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any of the numerous social media sites, and one isn’t long in finding an endless stream of self-love. Yes, the “selfie world” is upon us, but does all this “self-love” add up to us being value-oriented?

To be value-oriented doesn’t entail self-love as much as it does in understanding the way of the world, and the way of the world, in all honesty, couldn’t care how much self-love any of us has. As much as I hate to disappoint, the world only cares about what you can do for them, not for what they can do for you.

President Jack Kennedy (1917-1963) had it right, when in his 1961 presidential inaugural address he said the memorable words, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.” Perhaps if he had substituted the word “country” with “neighbor,” as in “ask not what your neighbor can do for you, but ask what you can do for your neighbor,” more people would realize that life is not something owed us, but rather something we create, something we create in which others see value. And it’s in this value, where true freedom and independence are ultimately to be found.

Freedom and independence stem not from government, but rather from our capacity to be value-oriented, that is, people who value us for the things we do. It’s then and only then, that we’ll be compensated in accordance with the value we bring to the table – the greater the value, the greater the compensation. And in a free society, should someone not recognize what we believe our value to be, then it’s our choice to move on to find someone who will. Either that, or as sadly often seems to be the case, we lobby government to force our idea of value upon people who otherwise don’t agree with us.

To be value-oriented is not an easy task. It means going the extra mile, when the extra mile may bring nothing. It means giving, when giving may be in vein. It means risking, when risking may cause loss. But just the same, it’s the value-oriented person who emerges from the sidelines. It’s the value-oriented person who abhors the all-too-popular refrain of “something for nothing,” and it’s the value-oriented person who wants nothing more than to succeed, to succeed not as a result of some government decree or lottery, but as a result of hard work, creativity, and effort – to succeed as a result of value (see Gain Focus, Gain Success…).

That’s the value-oriented person…are you one?

For more, check out The C.A.T. Principle: Change, Action, Trust – Words to Live By, a Global Ebook Awards GOLD Winner for Best Self-Help Non-Fiction Ebook of 2014, available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. See the latest Amazon reviews here. Now revised and expanded, and once again nominated for the Best Self-Help Non-Fiction Ebook of the 2015 Global Ebook Awards.

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