Money - What To Do When We Want More
Just finished reading Ben Benson’s book “The New Rules of Wealth: Dispelling the 27 Myths of Personal Prosperity
The Law of Compensation…
So, The Law of Compensation states that the amount of money you will earn, will be in direct proportion to, and the combination of:
- The Need For What You Do
- Your Ability To Do It
- The Difficulty There Is In Replacing You
What does this actually mean, in real terms?
All three factors are addressing this idea of ‘value’. Value itself always has a context. Putting something into a context, means connecting it to it’s surroundings in a meaningful way.
I think it was Howard Gardner (Harvard guy) who said something like “Intelligence is creating value within your cultural context”.
Your cultural context is the relationships within and around which, you will provide value. Your market and your customers 
So let’s look at these three factors more closely:
1. The Need For What You Do
Is there a need for what you do? - is it big enough to provide enough opportunity to give value. And do you have access to that market, i.e. is it within your cultural context.
There could be a narrow need with fewer people, which has a higher value, or a wider need, with a lower value - as long as the need doesn’t limit your market, and you have the ability to connect to people within that market, you have this one covered.
Needs can be discovered through exploring, testing and asking.
2. Your Ability To Do It
Even though you might have identified a need, if it’s something that you’re not very good at, and there are other people who are better at it, then you can’t provide as much value as they can. If however, you are the best in the world at it, then there’s a good chance people will actively seek you out personally, and be willing to pay you a premium.
Ability can be developed through experience and training.
3. The Difficulty There is in Replacing You
This is my favourite. If you decide to provide a service that is widely available, is easy to do and requires no skill, then there will be lots of other people who can also provide that service, so you cannot stand out in terms of providing value.
If however, you provide a service that only you can provide, and it is combined with a need, and you can connect with these customers, then you have very high value. No-one else can do it. You are priceless.
The reason this is my favourite, is that it opens up the question of “What could I be the best in the world at?” - and of course the answer is being you. Only you can be you. The trick is to know who you really are, and how you can provide value which is an expression of who you are, to a market that you can reach.
We are all unique of course, and that’s no accident. If you can discover your uniqueness, you will also discover your gifts and talents - your natural abilities. When we do these things that come naturally to us, we are really expressing our uniqueness, and we feel great. The trick is to connect them to a need, and develop them so that we improve our ability. Just because they come naturally, doesn’t mean we have developed them to the level of skill and mastery.
Natural gifts, talents and abilities can be uncovered through self-exploration, coaching, mentoring etc.
Remember this is all within the context of earning money. For some people the experience of happiness comes from relationships, children, altruistic pursuits.
But if you simply want to earn more money, then learn more about and embrace the Law of Compensation. Provide high value within the context of a reachable market.
- to your success,
Paul.
p.s. Bob Proctor first introduced me to the Law of Compensation. Thank you Bob.
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