Way too many of us felt that the things that we have put a lot of effort for, are more valuable.

We spent years to learn something, we felt that the knowledge is valuable.

We spent 10 hours to paint, the result becomes one of our home’s treasure.

Recently I bought a pair of shoes online, I spent a lot of time looking for this pair of leather shoes. After I had decided to buy them and paid online, the seller suddenly told me that the stock is empty.

Why he didn’t tell me earlier, huh? He then told me that I had to wait for 14 days if I still want the same exact design with size 43. So I said yes and waited.

The shoes finally arrived after 13 days and yes, it looks amazing. But heck, it’s uncomfortable. It doesn’t fit right, it’s too small and tight at the small fingers. I tried walking with it for 30 minutes in the mall and that’s it, I couldn’t wear it no more. It’s as if the shoes were biting my feet.

That moment, I was nearby a bookstore and I thought I could find some slippers or shoes to wear. They apparently sell shoes in a bookstore. I found a pair of shoes, it is not so special, just normal sneakers. I wore it and it feels comfortable. I decided to buy it, it is half the price of the shoes I bought online earlier. I love the shoes!

It got me thinking, I was frustrated about the shoes I bought online because I paid more money, I spent more time choosing them, I even waited for 13 days! This is the price I pay for that pair! High price, low value.

For the shoes I had bought in a bookstore, I gave minimum effort. I tried a few pair of shoes in 15 minutes, paid less money, and they are comfortable on my feet. This is the value it brings to my life! Low price, high value.

We shouldn’t let the price we pay makes us confuse about the value it brings to our lives.

Same case in business and investing. There is a huge difference between price and value.

There are way too many valuable things in our lives that we don’t have to pay for:

1. Our parents’ love for us.
2. Our family and friends.
3. Our skills that we have acquired for a long time but we haven’t used it to make money yet.

There’s many more! Yet, many of us work hard for something that doesn’t bring as much value to our lives. Many of us do not give enough time for our family or friends. Just because we don’t have to put effort or pay money to have them, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t valuable!

Many of us pursue a “Dream” career goal that we think is cool, but yet we have underutilized skills that could be our true calling.

Sometimes, we have got to just pick the low-hanging fruits.

Putting more effort for something that gives us real value is always good, but make sure we don’t take all the valuable things we can easily get for granted.

When we have the habit of paying less for more value, we will be living in a world of abundance. You will be surprised that there are so many undervalued assets, products, and services.

Love your family and friends. Love yourself. Love your skills, your knowledge, and your appearance.