Note Four: Are You Really Useful?

(You are reading this because one random day, I said I was going to share one learning note a week in 2024 and some people liked the tweet).

We like to pretend that the world is one giant ball where equitable things happen and that people are simply supposed to trust our potential or like us forever when the truth is, usefulness goes a long way in determining your trajectory in life and all-round wellbeing. There’s a reason why being called a useless person is an insult.

I think it is important to ask yourself randomly and often — am I being useful or am I getting in the way?

Usefulness is in two folds. To yourself and to others. Oftentimes, people concentrate on one, leaving a huge gap in the other that messes up the scale. Full roundedness as an individual comes from being able to help yourself AND help others in valuable and meaningful ways, whether big or small.

The idea and practice of being useful speaks to value — the way you see yourself and the way others see you. There’s a compounding effect in providing value consistently and being known for it that leads to the world offering more opportunities for you to create and gain better value. It really just keeps getting better and more fulfilling.

Earlier this week, someone was explaining the concept of career usefulness to me and how it is very important to them because they are certain that as long as they can find avenues to be useful, they are very unlikely to starve.

I get it because the running theme in life and career development is usefulness; finding ways to be of service to others. It is also the most important thing in product or service development.

We judge inventions — a new app, device, recipe or clothing — by their usefulness and it is inevitable that human beings, in whatever capacity, are actively or passively judged by their ability to create value. It is not the most politically correct thing to say because we want to simply be loved for who we are but who says usefulness cannot be an integral part of who we are?

The world is hard and so is everything in between including starting/growing a business, nurturing a family, curating communities and being human. It helps if you are one less person who takes space without adding anything useful to it.

In understanding usefulness, it’s important to think about the small and big things. You can be valuable for comic relief, which the world needs right now, or problem solving by offering tactical help or a calming energy or even just a smile.

When it comes to career, I like to link conversations around usefulness with purpose a lot because I don’t think that one can exist without the other. The more you spend time figuring out what you are supposed to do per time and why, the more you understand where and how you can be most useful. This causes your value as a person in your environment to increase and with that, comes more opportunities.

A good example that comes to mind is the Forks episode of The Bear when Ritchie discovers his purpose. Prior to that episode, he worried about his usefulness in the restaurant as he had no strong, identifiable skills. The others were chefs, technicians and managers but he just couldn’t figure out how he could be useful in the new iteration of the restaurant they were putting together.

Then, he gets sent to stage (read: intern) at a super efficient restaurant and is blown away by how useful he is expected to be, even with the littlest things. It is in building these small blocks of usefulness in important things regardless of size, that he finds his purpose in the restaurant ecosystem. He goes back to his restaurant with a spring in his step and begins to transform the place in a valuable way, no questions asked. From that moment, Ritchie’s value increases because it is clear to everyone what makes him useful.

Usefulness and providing value is an inside-out exercise. You first have to see yourself as valuable and being able to contribute meaningfully, then go ahead to do it in a way that makes your usefulness clear.

Ralph Waldo Emerson connected the dots fully well when he said, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

Perhaps we are ultimately responsible for our own joy, but happiness is found and purpose derived from being acknowledged as being valuable.

In my experience, creating value is one of the secrets to a happy life. I love doing things that are not just activities but that actually provide value to others and myself. I hate getting stuck in the flow or doing things simply for the sake of it.

I have found that when I focus on what brings out the best in me and others, I thrive and it is this energy I carry everywhere. It is my way of finding meaning.

To become useful or provide real value for others, ask yourself these important questions:

What am I great at that others can benefit from?, What are my strengths?, Where have I added value in the past? and What problems do I have solutions for?

Being useful is a mindset. And like with any mindset, it starts with a decision.