Balance & Decision
Value vs Worth
The Balance of Decisions: Perception of Value vs. Perception of Worth
This fast-paced world accelerates faster, increasing the requirements of decision making, for me personally and for the innumerable groups around the globe.
Decision-making has become an important yet under examined pillar of our day to day experience. Decide when to wake up, decide what to wear, decide what to eat, decide what to buy, decide who to vote for, decide who to trust, decide what’s true, decide what to throw away, decide what to donate, decide who to visit.
Depending upon how much energy we have, it can be overwhelming. Yet, being alive requires constant decision making, a balance between allowing excess uncertainty or over scheduling into robotic routine. Lack of decision simply results in someone else making the decision for you. Inaction being another form of action.
The quantity and quality of decisions, especially when connected to the value we gain from our personal and professional experience, have a strong correlation to the satisfaction we feel from the outcomes of our decisions. In this light, the balance between value and worth seems to be a distinction worth making.
How do we balance our perception of value against its perceived worth? Let's examine a model that visualizes a Balance of Decisions.
Perception of Value
The left side of the diagram centers on the "Perception of Value." This perception revolves around how much we value something, often in terms of intrinsic motivation, rewards, or the meaning we derive from it.
Inspiration: This is the broad scale driving force behind our desires and goals. It fuels our passion and gives purpose and direction to our actions. When we're inspired, we feel a sense of purpose and meaning, urging us to pursue a particular path. Artists, for instance don’t create primarily to earn money; they experience positive emotion from expressing deep interconnection from within their heart, connecting with a broad audience. When everyone can see themselves in the artwork this supersedes monetary value they give their life to the artistic practice.
Motivation: Closer to the center, motivation bridges the gap between our intrinsic desires and external rewards. While inspiration might be our internal compass, motivation is the engine that keeps us moving. It's about the rewards and utility we get from our actions, such as money earned from a job, approval earned from someone we respect, or affection from someone we love.
Perception of Worth
On the opposite side, we have the "Perception of Worth," which deals with the amount of effort, time, and resources we're willing to invest in an endeavor.
Time: Time is a finite resource, and hence, our most valuable one. Before embarking on any task, we weigh how much time it will consume against its potential benefits. For instance, is it worth spending five years on a Ph.D.? As long as you have thought it through before committing the time, it can be, but unexamined expenditure of time is unwise.
Effort: Before investing our time into something, we evaluate the effort it requires. This can be physical, mental, or emotional. For instance, starting a new business venture requires immense effort, not just in terms of capital but also in dedication, resilience, and hard work. Persistence through the most difficult of challenges: “Eating Glass and Staring into the Abyss”
The Balance
Between these two spectrums of value and worth lie three pivotal factors:
Manipulation: This represents external factors that might sway our decision-making, such as peer pressure, marketing tactics, or societal expectations. It's crucial to recognize when we're being manipulated so that our decisions remain aligned with our true values. Not to be given up to anyone other than ourselves.
Risk: Every decision comes with its inherent risks. Some greater than others. Assessing the safety and danger associated with our choices, and understanding the probability and impact of potential outcomes, becomes an informing element for the other factors. For instance, investing in stocks might offer high rewards but comes with the risk of losing hard earned capital.
Safety and Danger, and Probability of Success: Our commitment to our decisions and how we perceive their ongoing challenges is crucial. A task might seem daunting initially, but with persistence, it becomes manageable. Our perception of challenges and our ability to persist through them often determines the success of our endeavors.
Final Contemplation
The Balance of Decisions model emphasizes the importance of weighing our perception of value against our perception of worth. By understanding the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, evaluating the effort and time required, and considering external factors like manipulation, risk, and our persistence, we can make more informed and balanced decisions. Persisting where we should, and eliminating excess which is preventing more meaningful progress in other areas.
This model serves as a reminder that decision-making should not feed immediate gratifications or rewards but more accurately align us with our long-term plans, goals, values, and understanding. By aiming to strike the right balance at each moment, we pave the way for extended satisfaction, success, and sense of fulfillment in our daily endeavors. Living more prosperously than the whims of our shorter term problems. “Will this matter in a week, month, or year?”
More to come on the subject of value vs time, as I have been struggling to decide where my time is best spent. Particularly on the Thorium Element. More exploration is needed.
