It’s Time To Rethink Our Perception Of Worth
- Lay Jordan
- May 3
- 6 min read
Have you ever found yourself questioning the value of your efforts, even when you initially started something for entirely different reasons?
It's 1:22 AM, and I'm typing on my phone because a thought struck me about how we often let our perception of "worth" overshadow our journey. After a month of intense content creation, juggling career planning, digital courses, and upcoming podcast preparations, I've noticed something interesting about how we measure value.
The Pressure of Perceived Worth
Personal projects should feel light-hearted and fun, right? But when you have a specific vision, it's easy to get caught in an overthinking spiral. I recently completed my fourth digital marketing and e-commerce course, and my immediate thought was, "I hope this is worth it." This automatic response made me pause - Why was I suddenly correlating its worth solely with landing a specific position?
Initial Intentions vs. Shifted Focus
My original reasons for starting the course were clear:
Testing my commitment to structured learning and filling knowledge gaps in marketing
I wanted to see what the structure of the course was like and see if I could commit to it. Since I did forms of marketing but didn’t learn specific skills since my program also focused on product development, the financials, packaging design, etc. Maybe it would be a chance to cover some elements that I didn’t get to do.
Exploring analytics as a potential career path aligned with my vision of a quality life
I wanted to take a course that had an analytics aspect to explore if it aligns with my desire for a quality life. School helped me discover I'm actually good at technical subjects - it was more about finding the right teaching style than natural ability. Since creative work can be draining for me professionally, and I enjoy pattern recognition and prediction, I wanted to try something more analytical. Starting with a certificate that I have some background knowledge in, while also having things I haven’t gotten familiar with yet, lets me test the waters before fully committing to analytics.
Applying new knowledge to my content creation journey
It is no secret that I feel passionately about content creation. Being a content creator across multiple platforms gives me a unique advantage in applying digital marketing principles. I can analyze my own content strategy, engagement metrics, and audience behavior across blogs, podcasts, and YouTube videos. This hands-on experience helps me identify areas where marketing concepts can enhance my content's reach and impact. The knowledge from this course will help me share my content more effectively and reach the right audience. I'll be able to make smarter decisions about my content.
Yet somehow, along the way, the job potential aspect became the sole focus, overshadowing these valid initial motivations.
The Time Factor
Our awareness of time's finite nature often drives this fixation on worth. Time is something we can’t get back. It is unpredictable given that we never know when is our last moments are and for the most part, the choice is rarely ours. This understanding that time is irreplaceable and unpredictable, making us constantly evaluate if our investments of time will "pay off."
Career Choices and Worth
When choosing our paths, we typically follow:
Childhood interests and passions
Despite its potential limitations, we often gravitate towards childhood interests because they represent our most authentic, unburdened aspirations, and our perception of worth becomes deeply intertwined with fulfilling these early dreams. This emotional connection can make it particularly challenging to objectively assess the current value and viability of these career paths.
The Hurdle (s):
Passions can change over time - what interested us as children may not align with our adult interests and values
Childhood interests might have been influenced by limited exposure or understanding of available career options
The job market and required skills for childhood dream careers may have evolved significantly
Emotional attachment to childhood dreams can make it harder to pivot when necessary
Natural talents that others have recognized
When we excel naturally at certain skills, others often notice and encourage us in those directions, providing valuable external validation. However, this path requires careful consideration since natural talents may not align with our interests or provide sufficient challenge for long-term fulfillment, and external recognition can create pressure to pursue paths mainly to meet others' expectations.
The Hurdle(s):
Over-reliance on natural abilities might prevent us from developing other important skills
Fear of disappointing others who have recognized our talents
Difficulty distinguishing between genuine interest and comfort with familiar skills
Risk of burnout when pursuing a path mainly because we're "good at it"
Paths promising financial security
The allure of stable income and job security often influences career decisions, especially in uncertain economic times. While financial stability is a valid consideration, prioritizing it exclusively can lead to career choices that may not align with personal values or long-term satisfaction. This path requires balancing practical needs with personal fulfillment.
The Hurdle(s):
Risk of prioritizing financial security over personal growth and satisfaction
Potential for getting trapped in a "golden handcuffs" situation
Difficulty maintaining motivation in roles chosen primarily for security
Challenge of finding work-life balance when financial considerations dominate career choices
Redefining Worth This Month
Let me explain each of these important points about how we perceive worth:
Immediate results don't guarantee long-term value: Just because something doesn't show immediate benefits doesn't mean it won't be valuable in the future. The true impact of our efforts often reveals itself over time.
Every experience has inherent value through learning: Each experience, regardless of its outcome, provides opportunities for growth and learning. Even if something doesn't work out as planned, the knowledge gained is valuable.
Obsessing over worth creates unnecessary barriers: When we constantly question the value of our actions, we create mental obstacles that can prevent us from fully engaging with and benefiting from our experiences.
Worth-questioning surfaces from misaligned expectations: We tend to question the value of our efforts most when reality doesn't match our expectations or when we're feeling impatient about results.
Moving Forward
There are multiple paths to success, and fixating on a single outcome can blind us to unexpected opportunities and growth. The journey itself often holds more value than we initially realize. What matters isn't just the destination, but how we grow and what we learn along the way. Sometimes, the most valuable outcomes are the ones we never anticipated.
A recent conversation with a friend over coffee provided an interesting perspective on this topic. We discussed content creation and how the current digital landscape often makes it challenging to avoid focusing on worth. Take, for instance, the discourse around Gen Z and unemployment - while every generation faces accusations of laziness, there's something particularly troubling about the casual way people label certain behaviors as "unemployed behavior."
While these comments might be intended as jokes, they diminish the reality of unemployment. They create a false narrative that unemployed individuals aren't actively seeking work. The truth is far more complex: unless someone has the privilege of financial security through other means, most unemployed individuals are constantly networking within their industry, maintaining an active LinkedIn presence, developing projects, building digital portfolios, and finding creative ways to demonstrate their skills.
All of this happens while managing the emotional toll of job searching - a process that often involves accepting positions unrelated to one's education or career goals, simply to maintain some form of income. This reality check reminds us that worth isn't just about immediate financial returns or career advancement; it's about resilience, adaptability, and the continuous effort to grow despite challenging circumstances.
In reflecting on these realities of perceived worth, it becomes clear that our journey through career development, skill-building, and personal growth is far more nuanced than simple metrics can capture. Whether we're pursuing additional education, creating content, or navigating unemployment, the true measure of worth extends beyond conventional success markers. It encompasses the resilience we develop, the perspectives we gain, and the unexpected paths we discover. The most valuable lesson is learning to balance practical considerations with personal growth, understanding that worth isn't a fixed destination but a continuous evolution of how we adapt, learn, and contribute to our chosen fields. As we move forward, let's challenge ourselves to broaden our definition of worth, acknowledging that every step, whether forward, sideways, or backward, contributes to our overall journey of growth and discovery.
I hope you enjoyed this post and found it interesting. Also, if you like my content it would mean the world to me if you would also subscribe to my YouTube channel, my Pinterest, and my TikTok account. On YouTube, I have the most inspirational content from Lifestyle Design posts to Digital "open when..." letters to boost your mood. I also keep a copy of my podcast episodes (which is also available on Spotify). I decided that I am honoring what feels right to me and continuously working on building the life of my dreams and helping others do the same. Don’t forget to share this if you feel inspired and I will have more content for you soon.
Until next time butterflies 🦋 Sincerely yours
Xoxo,
Lay 💋
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