Over the past week or so I have been preparing for an approximate 2 hour presentation to one of my customer’s team at their annual retreat. The topic that the customer asked that I concentrate on is “business planning”.

My mind has been whirling with different thoughts and stories that I hope will motivate the group to plan, but even further than just plan, I hope they will take action and implement their plans. Now that I have completed the preparation for the presentation I am able to step back and attempt to assess the value to be delivered by the concepts and ideas that I will be presenting. In doing this, a new thought jumped into my head…. what is truly valuable?

At first I thought of the easy things…money, a house, a car, jewelry…you know…THINGS!!! I then thought that these are, what I have begun to call, rival assets….something that, if I give/sell to you, you have and I don’t. But what if I give you a concept or idea that inspires or motivates you to action….and that action results in creation of a new process that allows you to more effectively deliver your goods or service, or motivates you to make a real commitment to more consistently do the things in your business that you KNOW creates profitable sales? Or, in a non-business environment, motivates you to live a more healthy life-style. These non-rival assets of concepts, ideas, motivation, and/or inspiration are where, I think, real value truly lies. These assets are non-rival in that I can give/sell them to you and now we both have the asset.

How cool is that?

Since I sell advice, ideas, concepts, motivation, inspiration, and a few other intangible services for a living, the following statement is going to sound very self-serving. But here goes… I believe that the value of non-rival assets exceeds the value of rival assets by an immeasurable distance. Things are just that…things! But ideas, thoughts, determination, desire, ….these are the intangibles that lives of real worth are made.

OK….there, I said it.