What’s In It For Me?

People practice WIIFM. It may be inherent in human nature, but I believe it is a combination of both nature and nurture.

You may ask, what’s “WIIFM”? It is an acronym for “What’s In It For Me?”

To be successful in this life, whether it’s demonstrating your life’s mission with either a Mother Teresa or Elon Musk approach, people will buy in to what you’re laying down if it generates value for them.

WIIFM is a valuable truth to understand and keep as a guardrail in life whether applying it to your personal or professional walk. People want what drives value.

From a personal perspective, WIIFM means people will embrace your friendship, companionship, and even love, if you value them while developing and generating your own value-driven life.

In business, if a task or action doesn’t generate or have value in the customer’s eye, it is an expense that erodes profitability. Therefore, on both sides, keep only what has value. The balance is waste to be eliminated.

WIIFM may sound harsh, even fatalistic. However, if you drill down to its core meaning and embrace the concept with an open mind, you will see that it places a high value on being good stewards of limited resources resulting in value generation and positive vision casting and harvest in our personal lives, homes, community, and business.

I think of Mother Teresa who epitomized this concept from a spiritual perspective. She lived a rather austere lifestyle but one filled with value generation for the poorest of the poor, the sick, the unwanted. She lived her WIIFM mission and servant-leader calling knowing that her purpose was to generate value by bringing God glory in her walk on earth by valuing the most fragile. Pointing them Heavenward. Building heaven equity for eternity. Now that, my friends, is value generation like no other.

Next time you connect with someone - at home, at work, or in the community - ask not only “What’s in it for me?” but also “What value can I bring?” That’s where impact begins.

Until next time –

Live well. Be well.