Putting a price tag on one’s self

“Once upon a time, there lived a furniture shop owner. He makes beautiful finely-crafted furniture and sells them at low prices. Sales are not that good though, just enough to get him by. After all, his shop is just one among the many furniture shops lining up his neighborhood, competing for attention from passers by. One fine day, he decided to sell one of his pieces at an outrageously high price, and Lady Luck smiled at him because a shop visitor noticed the expensive price, carefully examined the piece, observed how finely crafted it was and thought that it must be really valuable, thus the product was bought. The owner was ecstatic! Now this got him thinking a lot. I sold my products at a lower price and nobody buys, but when I put a higher price tag on one of them, it was bought. From now on, I will sell all my products at a higher price, after all they are really of good quality! Soon he became a favorite among the rich and famous because of his good quality yet expensive furniture. And the rest is history. Now he is one rich happy man exporting his products to other parts of the world. The end.”

Well, this is actually based on a true story as told by a friend who knows that guy. When I heard her relate this one, I was again reminded of this simple truth: nobody puts a price tag on yourself and your talents but only you.

A person’s worth is simply an idea existing in his mind depending on how much he truly values himself. We sometimes settle for poor or mediocre service because we don’t want to offend the staff or we don’t want to make a scene. We enter into dead-end relationships because there isn’t anybody else, we get involved (or worse, even marry that person) even if we’re not honestly loved in return, but the truth is, we deserve somebody better. We sometimes settle for a low compensation in our careers because we think our work is just worth that much, when deep inside we know its worth so much more.

I’m not saying we should be overly ambitious, excessively extravagant, strive harder to reach the impossible or become something we’re not. But when we value ourselves less when we can actually be worth so much more, that is surely the biggest mistake we’ll be making in our lives. As Zig Ziglar says, “No one on the face of this earth can make you feel inferior without your permission.”