How many hammers have you got? Screwdrivers? What about nails?
When it comes to tools, rarely does the number owned matter. What does come into play is the ability to use the them to create something of value. Some people are fine craftspeople, some are handy do-it-yourself'ers, some are unskilled completely.
My Granddad was a fine craftsman type woodworker and had a shed full of professional tools that wouldn't be out of place in a small factory. He had spent a lifetime collecting them, caring for them and most importantly, using them to create works of woodworking art. From ornate mirror frames to clock housings, furniture and my father's painting's frames, each piece was an example of his knowledge and skill developed throughout his life.
For most people who would walk into his shed, they would see sawdust, lumber, chisels and machines but, they would not judge his ability based upon the tools at his disposal. The judgement of ability is in the creations, the proof is in the pudding as they say. Not that the judgement mattered, he loved using his equipment to make tangible his ideas.
I have a friend who loves collecting tools, loves the expensive brands, the quality but, is relatively unskilled in their usage. His toolkit has the capabilities to create masterpieces, his ability does not. For the most part, the potential of his tools lays dormant while in another's hands, they would be utilised fully.
This is how I see the value of money (or any resource for that matter), it is not what you have, it is how you use it. Money is a tool that can be utilised in a myriad different ways but sitting there gathering dust, it creates nothing. Well, it may gather some additional value, collect more tools.
Money itself is a very valuable tool as it has the ability to purchase access to all tools from tradespeople to coders, a massage to a gym membership but unlike the tools in my Granddad's shed, it actually does nothing. It is just a concept that sits there in the wallet.
Because of the concepts utility to purchase the tangible, people use this it in many different ways depending on their interest areas. Some will buy candy, others will buy rockets or, the minds that can build rockets. Some will purchase art for their walls, others paint to dip their brush into.
However, we spend so much time considering and working on how to get more f the tool, rarely do we step back and think about what we are going to do with it, how we are going to utilise it and whether it will bring us value, or not.
The way each uses the tools at their disposal is of course up to them but, so are the results. Some learn how to skillfully apply their tools to work for them, to generate more so they can create more. Some have only enough to buy their minimum requirements but spend little time working out if this is the best way to go.
For me, I have been a minimum requirements spender for most of my life and when there has been extra, I have used it uncreatively and with a limited skillset. It is not that I have completely wasted it, but I have bought much more candy than I likely needed and created a lot less than I could have. There is nothing wrong with this but for me, I would like to be more creative than consumptive which means changing my behaviours.
But to create, I need some tools at my disposal as the things I want to create require skillsets I do not have and are unlikely to be able to learn in a reasonable enough time. This means collecting some more economic tools so I can purchase the skills of the community.
Ideally, I would be able to set up the system to create a network where I am able to generate more tools that spiral out into the community so that they have tools to use and earn with and they can do the same. This is why I love Steemit, it gives the space for some people to create with.
But, what I do notice with a lot of the creative types is that like me, they have spent very little time working out how to get more space for themselves to create within. As they say, time is money, but this means, money is also time. The space this creates is another tool. Some people use it to sit on a beach, some use it to try to get to Mars.
These are just some quick and shallow thoughts that I will use to develop more from later. Perhaps if people are interested, they may want to write a post about how they would ideally spend their time and money if they had enough of it at their disposal. If you do this, please link it in the comments below as I would love to read what people would create with tools at their disposal.
Perhaps in the thoughts and words, some will find ways to create actions. It is not how many hammers you have, it is what you build with them.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]