Money is a representation of value. Money isn’t good or bad. It doesn’t define who we are. Our choices define who we are. Money can buy time and energy to some degree, and that’s about it.

Value is a perception. Value exists in people’s minds only. There is no intrinsic value to anything, even though there are commonly agreed value of certain items. The same item can worth different amount to different people at different times.

People would only buy when they think they get more value from a transaction than the amount of money they pay. People would only sell when the amount of money they receive is more valuable to them than what they are selling.

After a good trade, the sum of value in people’s minds increases. Both parties would happily trade again.

After a bad trade, either or both parties later decide that what they received is less valuable to them than what they had before. The same trade would unlikely to happen again.

In the long run, only the businesses that continuously provide value to people can survive.

The secret of making money, is to create value for others as they define it. As Zig Ziglar famously put it, “You will get all you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.” This mean seeing from other people’s point of view. It also means talking in terms of what other people want instead of what you think they need.

• business creation
• money
• value