Whenever a conversation is about who you want to be “When you grow up” or “What are your future plans?” or “Where do you see yourself in ten years,” it seems all of our responses are always about titles and money.
Who do you want to be or become?
I want to be a:
- CEO
- Head of Something
- Big Shot
- Deal Maker
- Millionaire
- Billionaire
- Zillionaire
Hardly ever do we hear someone talk about things that do not involve name, fame, money, and materialistic rewards.
How many times have you heard the following in response to what do you want to be or become?
I want to become a:
- Difference Maker
- Team Player
- Loving Spouse
- Great Parent
- Servant Leader
- Compassionate Being
Bill Gates asks himself four questions that are not about material rewards. (Of course, he himself admits when in his twenties, he would have laughed at such questions.)
Similarly, Clayton Christensen alludes to underinvesting in personal and family side of the balance sheet and over-index on the career.
Or as Sydney Madwed summarizes: “Poor is the man who does not know his own intrinsic worth and tends to measure everything by relative value. A man of financial wealth who values himself by his financial net worth is poorer than a poor man who values himself by his intrinsic self-worth.”
Why does our conversation about “Who we want to Be or Become” always have to be materialistic? Why do we equate the self-worth of a person to be synonymous with his/her net worth?
Can we measure success in ways other than titles, the positions, the hierarchy, and the number of zeroes in our net worth?