Life Lesson #6: The Most Expensive is NOT always The Best
Today’s life lesson was partially inspired by Albert Einstein who said “Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”
What This Means to YOU…
Unless you are made of money, then you’re monetary supply is limited so it’s important to understand that just because something costs a lot does not always mean it’s the best product. The same goes for your time – unless you are immortal, then your time on earth is limited, therefore you should find a way to use your time wisely by making the world a better place for yourself and others – when you do that, you’ll create real value for your life.
Let’s Look at an Example…
Let’s say you’re thinking about buying a new computer, or a new car, or whatever else you desire. Do you believe the most expensive option is guaranteed to be the best? I’d wager that it might be, but then again it might not. Think about it — the items with the biggest price tag are usually the ones that you see advertised the most. Somebody has to pay for all those ads — that somebody is you — when you buy a name-brand item, you’re not only paying the company for having made the product, but you’re also paying them back for all the ads they placed to find you. And you’re also paying their corporate salaries, their investors’ dividends, etc. etc. All those extra expenses are bundled into the price of the item. That’s part of why it’s so expensive.
Does that mean that you should just buy the least expensive product then? No. That would be a mistake too. Buying the least expensive item is generally even worse. The old saying ‘you get what you pay for’ is not always true when it comes to expensive items (sometimes they are good, sometimes not), but I have found that saying to be true more often than not when it comes to low cost items — unfortunately. These no name, off-brand items that cost the least are generally of such poor quality that in the end they don’t last very long and you end up having to go back and buy something else to replace it that costs more.
In the end, your best bet is to do a little research about the product you are interested in. Talk to friends and family to get their opinion. Research the product online. Try out a few different ones of various prices in the story before you buy if possible. Make sure that the product you are considering has a good reputation for quality. And make sure that it will meet your needs. Don’t fall for specials that include a bunch of things you don’t need (a laptop preloaded with tons of extra software you will never use, a TV with outdated ‘smart technology’ that costs twice as much as the same TV without that unnecessary add-on, a pair of sneakers that feature a logo from a player before you were born, etc). Unless you’re uber-rich, your money supply is limited. And if that is the case then it’s up to you to spend it wisely. So remember the most expensive is not always the best.
This concept applies to you own life as well – don’t fall victim to thinking that you ‘have to’ go to the most expensive college, wear the most expensive close, or allow yourself to be defined by someone else’s measure of success. At the end of the road, when you look back at your life, you’ll realize that none of those things really mattered. BUT I don’t want you to wait till the end of your life to understand this, I want you to see this truth NOW – once you do, you’ll understand that YOU have much more power of your life than you might imagine and as a result, you’ll be able to use your life to do good now. When you invest in yourself in this way, that will create REAL value.
Don’t Wait, Use this Wisdom Today…
Wanna buy a new stereo system? Buy the one that will meet your needs, not just the most expensive.
Wanna decide what to do with your life? First answer the question “How can I add value to others?”
Did You Know?
Today’s lesson came from a book Jax and I wrote called Diary of a Minecraft Dad