Does It Add Value To Your Life

How do you add value to your home? With necessary renovations, repairs, and any additions that the general buyer would want such as a garage, a fence for the backyard, etc. Having a neat landscape would be icing on the cake. The purpose of increasing the value of your home is to make a nice profit from it should you decide to sell it -- or at the very least be reimbursed for everything that you've spent on the house.

Of course, you have certain home owners that do crazy things to decrease the value of their homes, such as painting them crazy colors, adding funky-looking wall paper, and making additions that seem to make no real sense. On top of that, having a poor landscape, not making any repairs, and making no renovations (you know, like a kitchen that hasn't been updated since 1974). All of these things decrease the value of your home to the point where not only would you NOT make a profit on your home, but you would actually LOSE money. If you've spent $100,000 on your home, you may only get half of that back.

Now think about adding or losing value in our personal lives. Everyday, we make choices that would either add value to us or take away value from us. Think about how you spend your typical day. Are you doing things that would make improvements to your character, or are you doing things that would make you LESS of who you are?

Whenever I have down time on the job, my natural inclination is to go on Facebook and veg out. But then I realized that doing this isn't adding any value to my life. Or when I'm at home and I have nothing to do, I would turn the T.V. on (or go on Facebook, too!). Again, this adds no value to my life. Instead of vegging out in front of the tube, I could be learning a new language, something that actually adds value to my life!

When you're in the car, you want to listen to some music. While I believe music is important for relaxation, you could be listening to something that would BETTER improve your character such as listening to a language CD, or a personal development CD, or just mediating and reflecting on life.

If you're not happy with the kind of person you are, then ask yourself how much time are you spending doing things that add value to your life. If all you do is go to work, watch T.V., and go to sleep, then you're not adding any value to your life.

You know, when I step back and look at the amount of time that I waste, man, it would shame me to death! I could easily waste 10 minutes just sitting on the couch staring into space. What could I have done in 10 minutes? I could have read a few pages in a book, or do some cleaning, or, in my field, do some exercises. Instead, I just wasted 10 minutes in a zombie state of mind!

Sleep is one my top weaknesses. I LOVE sleep! Even if I get up absolutely refreshed, if it's still dark outside, I'll go back to sleep -- then wake up miserable because I've slept too much. I've been doing this for years, and you'd think I'd learn my lesson by now! Nope, I continue to do it, not understanding that nobody needs too much sleep. Your body just needs enough to restore itself. So, by sleeping for an extra two or three hours, I've just wasted the opportunity to use those hours to make some personal improvements.

Don't get to the point in your life where you think you're perfect. Don't get to the point where you don't think you need any improvements. Want a little test to show that you need to make some improvements? If you....

• Only speak one language
• Are always having health issues
• Are overweight
• Have a short temper
• Are always negative
• Get stressed out easily
• Are always procrastinating
• Love sleep (I'm really guilty of this!)
• Have no goals
• Usually feel hopeless
• Can't get along with people
• Hate your job
• Can't understand important subjects
• Are always making serious grammatical typos
• Have no sense of direction
• Can't change a flat tire

Then you need to make some improvements! Just imagine what kind of person you'd be if you're always doing something that makes you better and better. Think about how much you'd boost your self-esteem. Think about the opportunities that would present themselves to you. Think about all the places you could go in life if you would only be willing to do something everyday that adds value to your life.

So, before you cut that T.V. on, or before you run around looking for Pokémon, or before you decide to sleep in for an extra 10 minutes, think about what valuable thing you could do instead. Don't dread the things that add value. Dread the things that don't add value, because the more you engage in non-valuable activities, the less valuable you would be. In this world, we need more people that ADD value, not take away value.