I would like to introduce to you the concept of Effective Value as a strategy to achieving your full potential and living the life you want.

In a world often consumed by self-centric pursuits, I believe the shift toward collective well-being and shared success is self-evident.

As a guiding philosophy, Effective Value will appeal to those who feel a need for a deeper purpose and meaning in life. It will encourage you to move beyond self-focused thinking and embrace the collective advancement of humanity.

In my book, The Flea Circus, I discuss how the essence of Effective Value lies in recognising that true prosperity arises not in isolation but in promoting a world where everyone can thrive.

This concept invites you to embrace a mindset where personal growth intertwines with the collective progress of humanity, creating a world of shared success and interconnected well-being.

If you’re wondering what Effective Value is, here’s the key:

You can’t think effectively if you only think about yourself.

People who are self-centred and self-focused are not effective. If you only think about what you want, what you are feeling, what you do, what you need, then you limit your effectiveness to only one person, you. Your Effective Value is minimal when you only consider yourself.

But when you include others in your thinking, when you include others in your quest for success and happiness, then your Effective Value rises. In other words,

The value of your effectiveness—your EV—is directly proportional to your desire to help other people.

Motivational speaker and international bestselling author, Zig Ziglar, believed that helping others is the key to success and happiness.

He believed that you could get anything you want in life as long as you helped enough people get what they want.

In his book, Happiness to Live By: 100 Inspiring Stories to Smile About, he said this about the power of helping others:

The only way to reach the mountain peaks of life is to forget about self and help other people reach greater heights.

Helping others achieve their goals is therefore the essence of Effective Value, the definition of which is this:

Effective Value is the level to which you consciously serve the continuous advancement and development of all humankind.

Let’s now dissect this definition of Effective Value into its components so we can appreciate its importance.

#1: Effective Value is to be Value-Able

To have Effective Value is to be a person of mutual value to others and to one’s self, and for that value to be a consciously effective force aiding the progress and continual advancement of all, for the benefit of all, at the expense of no-one.

A diamond undiscovered beneath the ground has potential value, but it does not as yet have Effective Value because nobody knows it exists.

Only when that diamond is discovered, cut, polished, and offered to others for their benefit does it shift its value from a gem with hidden potential to that which is effective and value-able.

Tip: That hidden gem within you is your love for humanity—your desire for others to have that which you want for yourself, life in abundance.

It is incumbent on you to discover that gem and bring it to the surface of your consciousness.

Then, when you polish that gem and offer it to others for their benefit, you enable your value by transforming it from that which was hidden to that which is now effective and value-able.

You will rise to become a person of Effective Value and your life will reap the rewards of being value-able.

#2: Effective Value is a Level of Conscious Service

The degree to which you intentionally and willingly serve others for mutual benefit is a direct measure of your value to the world. That is, your level of Effective Value.

Those who are self-serving and treat everyone as a resource for their own benefit have little or no Effective Value.

They are the takers of the world with no thought for others apart from what they can get for themselves.

Those who serve others but are self-sacrificing to their own detriment do have Effective Value, but because they ignore their own needs and well-being, they only attain a modicum of Effective Value.

Although they are the givers of the world, it comes at great personal cost.

Effective Value requires balance. You are here to enjoy your life and your time here on this planet, not suffer it.

Those with high Effective Value are those who look after others and themselves with equal measure.

Tip: A useful way to move the pointer higher on your Effective Value Gauge is to view every moment as an opportunity to serve others for each others’ mutual benefit.

Know, then, the importance of following the Golden Rule in everything you do and it will keep you in good stead to increase your level of Effective Value:

Do unto others that which you would have them do unto you.

#3: Effective Value Advances and Develops All Humankind

When the use of your talents and gifts is limited only for your own benefit and success, then whatever success you achieve will represent the limit of your potential and capability.

Your Effective Value is therefore minimised and limited when all you do is focus on what you can get for yourself—to focus solely on you and what you can gain from others is to put limits on yourself. So why do it?

But when you use your talents and gifts for the benefit and success for all humankind, whatever success you achieve will no longer represent the limits of your potential and capability.

Rather it will be the launchpad for even greater success and achievement.

This is because your Effective Value is actually limitless.

So when everything you think, say, and do is dedicated to the advancement and development of each and everyone (which includes yourself as part of the greater whole, just not limited to you and only you), you cannot fail to tap into your limitless Effective Value and become a person of unlimited success.

Tip: ‘Advancement and development’ is akin to mental, physical, emotional, material, and spiritual progress and evolution, so that all may experience the fullness of life.

In their heart of hearts, those with the highest levels of Effective Value are those who desire for others everything that they desire for themselves—health, wealth, well-being, happiness, self-determination, love—and for everyone to have all this in abundance at the expense of no-one.

It is to have a win-win, non-competitive mindset, to crave success for all without disadvantaging anyone else. To know and believe deeply that:

Success isn’t reliant upon taking from another; rather, success is the attainment of the fullness of life for all.

That fullness isn’t the collation and attainment of material riches; money, power, posessions, which many seek and compete for, but few obtain. These are but transient and temporary.

Rather, it is something more permanent and enriching—the abundant wealth of joy, peace, freedom, love, health, well-being, wisdom, and belonging that you experience when you immerse yourself in the Flow of Life.

This is the priceless value of effective thinking.

Main Points:

1. Mindfulness is a mental state characterised by present-moment awareness and non-judgemental observation, often cultivated through practices like meditation.
2. When you change your thinking, you literally change the way you experience the world.
3. Effective Value (EV) is the level to which you consciously serve the continuous advancement and development of all humankind.
4. The Golden Rule: Do unto others that which you would have them do unto you.
5. Success isn’t reliant upon taking from another; rather, success is the attainment of the fullness of life for all.