I switched up my usual activities on a recent Friday night — I traded in happy hour for a TEDxHobokenSalon event at the Hoboken Historical Museum. TED is all about spreading big ideas and leaving the world a better place, two things I can get behind.
One of the speakers, Joe Mindak of Tisha Creative/HMag (another Hoboken-based company sharing the 80 River Street address) spoke about the importance of net- worth versus LIFE worth. It’s a message that I am still thinking about days later. His talk inspired me to reevaluate my current outlook on the world.
Let’s face it, a person doesn’t go into communications for the paycheck. They enter the field because of an underlying desire to take a powerful story, bring it to the world and leave a meaningful impact on the audience. RoseComm does this well for its clients. We get to craft and share fascinating stories about our clients. If you’re passionate about what you do, your life has immeasurable worth, making the dollar sign on your paycheck seem insignificant.
For me, this notion of Life Worth began in college. While at Penn State, I was an active participant in THON (our dance marathon) which gave me an immeasurable level of life worth. There was a daily reminder of the impact our efforts had on the Four Diamonds Families, the beneficiaries of the funds we raised. The financial support meant hundreds of families did not have to pay medical bills; the emotional support meant they were not fighting pediatric cancer alone. After graduation, that daily life worth seemed to decline.
So I ask myself, “How can I continue to make a difference in my daily life? How can I continue to foster my own life worth?”
I think life is a journey to find what satisfies you most; what fills you deepest with pride. It can be setting goals like running a marathon or regularly volunteering for a local charity. Challenging yourself to push personal boundaries is exhilarating. It comes down to what makes you feel most important when you crawl into bed at the end of the day. Are you taking advantage of these precious hours and seconds? Are you achieving your utmost potential?
The challenge is discovering the answers to those questions. It is part of the fun. It makes our lives have value. It is what quantifies our life worth. And as Joe said, sometimes it as simple as donating $50 so a child with special needs can receive an iPad.