Prosperity starts with the statement, “I am valued and I am valuable” and flows from there.

The Value Exchange – “I Am Valued And I Am Valuable”

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Money is a conversation that really does stir up the pigeons. I don’t know if it’s a universal saying, but certainly here in the U.K., when we talk about something kind of stirring up the pigeons, it means that leads often leads to a lot of kind of flapping and squawking. But most of the time, you know, there’s this kind of squawky dance happens inwardly, sometimes anchored in erroneous attitudes and patterns of thinking that have nothing to do with the value of money at all.

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Oftentimes, I think the money conversation really at the very root of it, has more to do with how we value our selves. You know, the controversial nature of money has many facets, and the love of money has led to monumental injustice that really muddy the waters when we try when we ourselves tried to get clarity on the subject in our own heart. And I honestly, it’s a conversation that has been a difficult one for me all through my life for a number of reasons, you know.

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But I’ve really found that some people kick against the the idea of money and the idea of prosperity. They kick against it mentally and verbally. But I have definitely found this. If if we get real honest with one another, most of us would like to have some more of it. I know. I do. You know, even accepting and saying that I want more money, that I would like more money, that I think I would enjoy, more money that it would help me accomplish more is actually quite a big shift for me.

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I would have like I would have held that conversation back with all of my strength and in some kind of false humility, pretended that it was not a world that I wanted to get to grips with. But honestly, money is really just a value of exchange. And when I began to shift my perception of money and what money actually is from the idea of kind of transactional cost type conversations to a much more relational value conversation, the picture changed for me and I began to think I believe in a more healthy way about looking to bring value to the world in order to be remunerated or rewarded as a result of that.

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You know, and instead of the question being, how can I make more money? The question becomes, how can I bring more value to this person or to these people? How can I help them reach their goals and fulfil fulfil their dreams? In what way can I exchange my support and expertise that will give someone else a leg up on their creative destiny and open their eyes to the wealth that they carry inside of them? You know that Zig Ziegler, a very famous motivational speaker and a believer as well, there’s certainly a Jesus follower.

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He said this and is very this is kind of one of his kind of one of the one of the kind of sayings that was probably framed on Ziggs wall. He said, you will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want. And that’s just such a powerful statement, if you think about it, that the actual exchange you are getting, what we want results from or is the fruit of us helping other people get what they want, I just puts a completely different a completely different shine on the money conversation.

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Another book that really helped me and I it’s one of the you know, there are only a handful of books that I unreservedly recommend to pretty much everyone I meet. And and not that there are not numerous wonderful books, but not all of them kind of are so universally applicable. But one of the books that I recommend everywhere I go is called The Go Giver by Bob Berg and John Davidman. The go give a very short book, really easy read, but just so powerful in the message that it brings.

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And I’m in the in the book they speak about the five laws of stratospheric success and I was going to just share one of them. But they’re also they are also relevant to this conversation that I wanted to just share those with you right now. The first, Laura Stratospheric, success is the law of value, your true worth is determined by how much you give, how much more you give in value than you take in payment, as you can see, the emphasis is on what you give in value.

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The second law, the law of compensation. Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. The third law, the law of influence. Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interest first. I mean, these are very searching and very powerful laws and questions that we can ask ourselves. Are we actually walking in these kind of truths? The fourth law of stratospheric success, according to Bob and John, is the law of authenticity.

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The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself. I think that that one is one that releases us from the thought that we have to do things in a particular way or be a particular kind of person before we can step in to a place of success and value giving. You know, really the most valuable thing that we bring to the table is our self, and no one else can replace that. And then the fifth law, the final one is the law of receptivity.

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The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving. This is not just a one way, one way track. Okay? You need to be open to receive the fruits and to receive the rewards of the value that you give and you bring to others. You know, these are just some of the things that I’ve really spoken to me over the years in my business building and in my relationships as I’ve sought to kind of look for ways in which I can bring value to other people with what I bring to the table and what I can offer them, you know, give in value, take in payment.

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It’s an exchange that takes place as we focus on what we can give in value, making that a great quest and then remain open and receptive to the rewards that we should expect will come back to us. You know, knowing that what we offer is worthy of compensation, then the conversation of money becomes a little less thorny. You know, instead of thinking, how can I get more of what I want, we begin asking the question, how can I help others in a genuine and authentic way to get what they want?

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And I’m not going to pretend for a moment that I’ve mastered this. You know, it’s an open discussion for me about one that bouncier and it’s one really honestly that bounces back and forth between the numerous voices that all want to have that say, you know, so many of us and I you know, again, I can only speak for myself, but most of us are like the rest of us. We struggle sometimes with limited thinking, sometimes, you know, sometimes as self-esteem ebbs and flows.

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Yeah. When when we’re involved in this exposure to the world, when we come and we think I’m going to bring something to other people, and then that inward conversation sometimes tries to prevent us from doing that, or we measure ourself by a bunch of metrics that really are not very helpful, you know, but sometimes, you know, ambition in there in a godly sense and courage will come and stake their claim and help us to step out. It’s not an easy conversation to win because in truth, many of us do not live in we live in countries where we have where we have limited liberty to really choose the pathway that we take.

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And many of the limits that we live by, many of the limits that we experience are ones that we often place on ourselves. You know, I’m aware that we we often these conversations are the luxury of people in First World. I don’t even like to think of it at first, second, third or whatever, but first world situations. But nevertheless, they are rooted in something far deeper than just what we have and how much we make. It’s rooted very much in our identity as a person.

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I often say, you know, that we were made to be makers. We are we carry our father’s DNA. It is natural stroke’s supernatural for us to produce and to bring things from nothing and make something of those ideas, yeah, that we have. That is the way that we’re wired, you know, and certainly your money is the most convenient means of exchange when we’re talking about exchanging value. And there are two things that I really want to encourage you in today.

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Number one, value what you have and who you are more fully. You know, don’t underestimate or invest or undervalue who you are, what you know, and how you can help change someone else’s life. The real work of expansion and growth is one of first self acceptance and self worth. And then as you become bigger, better and more powerful in your perception of who you are and how equipped and able you are to help others rise, then you will see much, much more significant results in what you do.

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And then secondly, find ways to share that value with others in an authentic way. Now this this for me is the primary focus of our creative academy, Christian Creative Academy. If you wanted to check that out, we really do look to help Christian brothers and sisters, Christian creatives, artists, authors, entrepreneurs to crystallise their amazing worth in ways that can be consumed and shared to and by others. You know, there really does need to be a conduit for your wonder, a conduit for all of that awesome that resides in your heart.

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And technology has made this easier than ever before. And that’s one of the things that we focus on there in the academy and that I encourage you to focus on, you know, find ways that are fitting to your personality, fitting to your way of communicating, and bring the bring your value to the table. You know, really, prosperity begins with this simple statement. I am valued and I am valuable and it flows from there. It’s rooted in your identity as a child of God.

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You are made to be a maker. And because you are because your source is God himself, because he dwells within you, we know that we are accepted in the beloved. We know that we are valued. We know that we are precious in the eyes and the side of the king and the Lord of the universe. And because of that, you are also valuable to other people. You have value to bring to the table that is just as unique as you are.

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Well, thanks for listening. Hopefully it’s been an encouragement to you today, if you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at Davidleemartin.com. Have a great day.