Before I was self-employed, I worked for various companies. There was this standard message that I was given at many of these places. Not long after I hired on, I was sat down and told something like, “You don’t matter. If you don’t produce the results we want, we’ll let you go and get someone else.” I felt marginalized.
I felt very unappreciated. I suspect my employers just figured that if I thought my job was on the line that I’d work at my peak. Instead, I questioned my value, my confidence was squashed, and I never took any risks. In my book, that’s not a recipe for peak performance.
Right or wrong, what I want to focus on is what it did to my spirit. After many years working in environments like this, the life went out of my eyes. I became very cynical, and I didn’t think I was valuable or worthy of much. Coming from a place like this, it’s very hard to pursue a calling and live a legacy. It helps to have some healing first.
Message
Maybe you have felt or are feeling marginalized too. You wonder if you matter, or if you are just a replaceable unit of production. If this is you, I have a message for you.
A commodity is something where we treat a kind of item as all the same. There’s no differentiating factor. For example, in the financial markets, we trade wheat or oil, and there’s no distinction between the quality of the wheat or the oil. It’s all treated and valued as the same.
You are not a commodity!
You are not just a unit of production. You are a unique person. You have strengths, skills, personality traits, and character qualities that make you valuable. No one else in the whole world is just like you. You matter.
You are a unique valuable person.
If you hide in the shadows and live small, the world is diminished. We miss out, not getting to experience someone special. It is extra special when you bring your own uniqueness to the life impact you make.
You are a unique valuable person.
I’m repeating myself on purpose. Some of us have been told for a long time that we don’t matter, that we’re good for nothing, or that there’s nothing special about us. It takes a effort to get this negative message back out of your system. Don’t dismiss my message. You need to let my message really sink into your core being. Really take it in. Go to the mirror. Look that person in the eye, and tell yourself with conviction.
You are a unique valuable person.
