Question-Week ending Sunday 07/20/03:
When was the last time you focused on improving your Personal Value in the Marketplace? Please read our Poll Commentary before taking this poll.
Pre-Poll Commentary:
One's "VALUE IN THE MARKETPLACE" or business world is often misunderstood by most people who leave each day to go to work. Survival is the mindset of most people on this planet and very little time is set aside to hone one's skills to the point where they may reach the top of their game.
We are often shocked by how some people are compensated by the Marketplace, even before they begin their first day on the job. A recent example is the signing of the Nike Deal with LeBron_James">LeBron James, the 18 year old basketball player from Akron Ohio who was recently drafted by the Cleveland Cavs. LeBron signed with Nike an endorsement contract for $90 million plus a $10 million signing bonus, even before he was drafted by the NBA. As outrageous as this may seem, this young man was just compensated by Nike in accordance with their company's perception of his VALUE IN THE MARKETPLACE. They definitely believe that his endorsement will help them sell tens of millions of high margin Nike items over the course of his contract, bringing in incredible profits to the company.
Granted, the above example is quite an extreme case of value perception. However, individuals and enterprises are compensated daily at extraordinary rates based on the value they bring to the marketplace. Years of planning, intense training, the honing of extraordinary skills and great advice from the right consultants all make up a value proposition that the market is willing to bid on.
Over the next few weeks, we will be discussing in our New Polls Series, this issue of PERSONAL VALUE IN THE MARKETPLACE. We hope you will take part and ENJOY the insight we shed.
Let us know in this week's poll, when you last concentrated on improving your VALUE IN THE MARKETPLACE. This poll will end on Sunday 07/27/03, when the results will be displayed.
Our polls and commentaries are enjoyed by hundreds of individuals weekly, with previous polls featured in the top ten of search engines like Google and Yahoo.
Results:
- 41% voted focusing on their PVIM each new year
- 21% voted focusing on their PVIM at beginning of each month
- 17% voted focusing on their PVIM each and every day
- 14% voted focusing on their PVIM last at graduation
- 07% voted focusing on their PVIM when starting a new job
- 00% voted they Never focused on their PVIM
Post-Poll Commentary:
If an individual is satisfied to live day-to-day in mere survival mode, then focusing on your PVIM once at the beginning of each year, will suffice. That was our number one vote in this week's poll at 41%. However, one will have to focus much more often on their PVIM to live a happier more prosperous lifestyle.
A friend of mine who owns a fitness center, reminds me that the top recruitment period for new gym members occurs during the first couple of weeks of January each and every year. So many people are making good on their "New Year Resolution" to work out and become fit. The gym is packed with new sweating bodies in January as these new recruits are determined to workout regularly from this point forward. Unfortunately, by the end of February, about half of the new signups have already disappeared from the gym's landscape. Then, by the end of March, the fitness center is right back to its normal participants who work out regularly between January through December. So what happened here?
Too many people who make New Year's Resolutions are not really fully committed to make a positive change in their lives. This same pattern also happens with smokers, food junkies and the like. It's no surprise that the same can hold true for those wishing to make more money at their jobs with some concerted effort beginning at the start of the new year.
I will agree that there must be a starting point in one's life to begin every new discipline. At some point, you decide to achieve a goal and then go for it. However, when it comes to increasing your Value in the Marketplace, I believe it's not something you start and stop focusing on at predicted time intervals. Rather it's a mindset you must sustain over a lifetime.
One of my greatest secrets to achievement has been my realization that steady, daily accomplishments of small objectives over a long and sustained period has helped me to realize my greatest dreams and goals. This theory definitely applies to increasing your Personal Value in the Marketplace, by focusing on necessary tasks each and every day.