The key to happily making and spending money changed my life, and I never want to go back to the way I was.

Guilty making it, anxious spending it… it was a never ending stress.

Then, I got a new job - I made less – but learned SO MUCH MORE…

One of my co-workers is awesome (a lot of my co-workers are awesome, but this one co-worker — he’s special) — and I’ll remember him for many reasons, but one reason in particular.

He has one catch phrase that I’ll always remember him for, and he’s helped me a lot by saying and doing this one thing for me; “Show Me, Don’t Tell Me”.

He’s shown me a lot, and I really appreciate him walking me to the storage room and showing exactly where a specific tool is located, or exactly what office another person is located. I really appreciate him showing me.

I remember these things very well, and I’m equipped to do the things he’s taught me for myself in the future.

However, in my daily life, I sometimes don’t have the expertise or time to do some things that I’d really like to see accomplished in my life.

Things like installing new carpet in my house, or grinding old stumps out of my backyard.

These things are hard to do, and they take a lot of my time if I attempt them myself.

I used to do EVERYTHING MYSELF – I couldn’t stand paying other people to do things that I knew I could do if I simply learned how, and took the time to do it.

However, thanks to people with specialized talents, skills and equipment that I don’t have — these people can do things WAY FASTER than I’d be able to do them myself — and — these things are done WAY BETTER than I would have been personally able to do myself.

We must appreciate the fact that other people ARE better than us at certain things – AND – That’s a great thing!

I would argue that if something is going to take me 5–10 times longer to do myself, and it’s going to be done better than if I did it myself — than I owe it to myself — my family — and the person who does it for a living to hire them!

That’s the value of everyone around us — everyone has specialized skills that are amazing, skills that are worth paying for.

The crazy thing is — we usually think that our value is common knowledge, so we end up feeling guilty about the value we can legitimately provide, and a lot of people undervalue their self worth!

Little do we realize, a lot of the things that we personally take for granted as ‘easy’ are VERY DIFFICULT for other people to do.

When other people say to you; “Thank You! That helped me so much! It was incredible!” — And that thing they’re thanking you for? It was SO EASY for you to do – that’s one of the best ways for you to figure out the value you can provide to other people.

We don’t really want mediocrity.

What we REALLY WANT is great products or services! — When someone is providing undeniable value, we find ourselves saying; “Here’s some money — PLEASE — Do it for me! You are helping me so much and saving me so much time, that I’m more than HAPPY to pay you for it!”

Wow — that is value.

I love paying for things that I truly find valuable.

I pay for knowledge that I don’t currently have, I pay for products that I need, I pay for time that someone saves me, I pay for experiences that are memorable, simply put, I pay for products that are awesome.

Now – there are many things that I’m not actually happy to pay for. Maybe they’re ‘just’ the necessities of life — or maybe a person is a legitimate scammer trying to make a quick buck and rip me off — I HATE SCAMMERS, I HATE FEELING RIPPED OFF!!

However, the things that bring me joy, save me time, money, give me valuable knowledge, or give me amazing experiences… I actually LOVE paying for these things.

And yes, I do budget for them — and that makes it all the more enjoyable to pay for them.

It’s the economy of life — and I love it.

I now value my personal creativity and horticultural knowledge through this lens, and I will always strive to give the most relevant and valuable information that will actually help people.

Recognizing solutions to problems that people may not even realize they have is one of my main talents — and I strive to ensure that the information I offer will be helpful to the person I’m serving, I always try to leave a person with the proper knowledge so that they are able to do something for them self.

I will always try to ‘teach a person to fish’ — but for it to be truly helpful they may still have to put in the work of actually implementing the solutions I’m offering.

Knowing why something is important is how I introduce a problem, and that’s typically what I do through my writing.

Giving people the knowledge on how to solve their problems is how I help people help themselves. And I typically like to do this in a little more personal way through one on one interaction.

I like to help people who really want and NEED my help, so I generally offer advice on HOW to do something only once I know that the person understands WHY it’s important.

I love teaching and and showing people how to do things.

So how do I make money and support my family then?

I work — I work damn hard.

Some of what I offer people are products and services that truly brings them joy, saves them time, money, gives them valuable knowledge, and provides them with amazing experiences.

I know that the value I provide isn’t for everyone – but for the people who require my services – the value I can provide is priceless.

We really shouldn’t expect EVERYONE to need our products or services.

There are only a few people of all the people we come into contact with who really NEED our products or services.

It’s for these people that what I do will actually be of so much value to them that they will truly LOVE paying me for my products or services.

Knowing that I’ve given so much value to a client through the effort of my talents brings me A LOT OF JOY and an intense feeling of personal satisfaction.

I used to feel guilty for charging money for what I genuinely love to do, but now I understand how much my work means to people who really aren’t able to do what I do.

I no longer feel guilty for asking for money for a product or service that I know I’ve put my heart into — that’s how I live and support my family — unfortunately, it’s taken me a wife and 3 kids to come to a place of peace with that mindset.

Sleepless nights can be had over sending an invoice and attempting to collect money from clients, I no longer have those worries.

Now — I professionally maintain two college landscapes — I’m a salaried employee and I get paid to go to work for 8 hours everyday. It’s very obvious to me what keeps a roof over my families head, what I’m worth, and what value it is that I provide to my employer.

Whenever I’m provided with the privilege of making a little extra money from another source outside of my full-time job, it’s just an unexpected bonus!

But, I’m also deeply satisfied because I know that what I’m offering is a truly valuable experience to another person, and that person is more than happy to pay me.

Knowing the value that we offer through our talents is amazing — And for me, it’s something that I’m very proud of!

You likely do the same at your job (whether or not you love it — that’s up to you).

I love horticulture — landscaping — gardening — tree care — All Of It. And the benefit of getting paid for what I love doing is simply an awesome bonus!

I no longer feel guilty for getting paid to do something that I love to do, because the fact is this — I provide a lot of value that others are genuinely happy to pay for!

I’m going to ask you to ponder. What value do you provide? And, I encourage you to truly accept and Be Proud Of That Value!

Don’t ever let a scrooge in your life take that satisfaction away from you…

I used to cower at the Scrooges in my life. Now, I recognize that Scrooge just doesn’t truly know what value is. Scrooge doesn’t respect others – and Scrooge definitely doesn’t respect himself.

The Scary Part?

I WAS SCROOGE.

What did I do?

I FIRED SCROOGE, and it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.

Respect others and respect yourself.

Be Confident in Your True Value – and learn to authentically love the true value that is contained in everyone who surrounds us!

You life will love you for it,

Jared