I’ve worn the same $8 Casio watch every day for the last two years. Functionally, my Casio does the same thing as a Rolex. It tells time and stays attached to my wrist, and even has a stopwatch, alarm, and alternate time zone function (talk about features!). The value I place on my wrist watch of choice is based on these basic functions which, it turns out, are valued at around $8 in the market. I wouldn’t even consider dropping an additional $2,000-12,000 on a watch that, for my purposes, does basically the same thing.

If, however, I spent my day making business deals with other Rolex-wearing individuals with whom I needed to fit in, or if I needed to visually represent a more upscale lifestyle to sell my own personal brand, or perhaps if I simply derived great personal enrichment from wearing a piece of jewelry that represents fine craftsmanship, the Rolex may be worth the hefty price tag. And while Rolexes aren’t my thing, I’m perfectly happy to regularly spend $5 on a micro-roasted, hand-crafted cup of coffee. Different scales, but equally superfluous in the reductionist functional view of things.

Your choice in Rolex or Casio, or Folgers or Hidden House coffee is neither good nor bad, it is a choice that tells you something about where you (or someone else) places value.

Your best use of this simple assessment tool is to turn it on yourself. Where do you spend your money? Where are you unwilling to spend the extra cash? Follow the paper trial to find where your values lie. Now, time for some introspection: do these values align with what you believe? Do they fit with what you see as valuable in the world? Do they represent who you are? Who you want to be?

- PS

4/26/19

• For time:

• 1 mile run

• 3 rounds:

• 50 DUs

• 25 cal row

• 1 mile run