A Short Story About Worth

I saw a short story the other day, admittedly in someone else’s newsletter (shoutout Sahil Bloom), but it has stuck with me since I read it. I have shared it with a few people who are close to me, and I think everyone can extrapolate tremendous value from it.

“One day, a boy approached his father and asked, "What is my life worth?"

The father handed his son a small stone and replied, "Take this stone to the market. If anyone asks the price, raise two fingers and don't say anything."

The boy did as he was told and went to the market. An old woman approached him and asked, "How much is that rock? I want it for my garden."

The boy held up two fingers, to which the woman replied, "$2? I'll take it."

Before she could complete the deal, the boy turned and ran home to tell his father what had happened.​

His father nodded and said, "Ok, now take the stone to the museum. If anyone asks the price, raise two fingers and don't say anything."

The boy did as he was told and went to the museum. A man in a suit approached him and asked, "How much is that stone? I want it for my home."

​The boy held up two fingers, to which the man replied, "$200? I'll take it."

​Before he could complete the deal, the boy turned and ran home to tell his father what had happened.

​His father nodded and said, "Ok, now take the stone to the precious gem store. If the owner asks the price, raise two fingers and don't say anything."

The boy did as he was told and went to the stone store. The owner of the store approached him and asked, "Where did you find that rare stone? I have been looking for it my entire life. How much will you sell it for?"

​The boy held up two fingers, to which the man replied, "$20,000? I'll take it."

​But once again, before he could complete the deal, the boy turned and ran home to tell his father what had happened...”

The lesson of the story is a powerful one:

You choose your own worth. You determine your value.

Worth is not fixed—it is a dynamic, environment dependent quality.

Just as the stone can be a $2 rock in the market or a $20,000 stone in the precious gem store, you too can see your worth change with your environment.

You can choose to place yourself in an environment where you're poorly valued, surrounded by people who don't think much of you, who tell you your limits, who laugh at your ambitions, who criticize your every move.

You can choose to think of yourself as limited, static. You can be hard on yourself, lamenting your failures and missteps. You can tell yourself that your future is set.

Or...

You can chose to place yourself in an environment where you're highly valued, surrounded by people who lift you up, who encourage you to think bigger, who pair high expectations with high support, who believe in you even when you don't believe in yourself.

You can choose to think of yourself as unlimited, dynamic. You can hold yourself to a high standard, but view every failure as an opportunity to learn and change. You can set boundaries. You can tell yourself that your future is in your control.

You get to choose your own worth:

You can choose to place yourself in environments where people will see you for your highest potential.

You can choose how you treat yourself.

You can choose your value.

You get to choose whether you are the $20,000 rare stone or the $2 rock.

Now all of that comes from Sahil’s newsletter, and I was going to do my own little commentary on it but it was essentially the same. What he said is very powerful. Everything ultimately boils down to choice. Whenever we feel like our value is dirt cheap, we must remember that the onus is on us to determine what our value actually is and how we are valued in different arenas in our lives. That is not to say everything rises and falls on our shoulders, but I believe that we should act as such. Control what you can control and leave the rest up to what is to be.

Godspeed friends