I recently wrote about a tale “David in Diamondonia” I heard when I was a child that still resonates with me years later. There are numerous lessons that can be learned from this simple story.

Here’s a few and then I’ll tell you about the one I thought of now decades later- that’s even more powerful than all of these.

• Know your goal. While working hard to get were you want you should keep in mind the goal. Often while working we forget the main goals and principles that cause us working so hard. (Martin Wildam)
• Think ahead. Instead of bringing money he should have brought candles – sell them for expensive and buy diamonds for those. (Martin Wildam)
• Value is a completely relative thing. It depends on: Who, Where, When (Martin Wildam)
• Give people what they want, not what you want.
• Trust but verify. Even the best and brightest aren’t always doing the best thing. They need to have some monitoring.
• Small gestures (of the right kind) can be worth much e.g. the diamond in his shoe.

But the lesson I recently thought of is that Diamonds (and money) are just our candle. Diamonds don’t do anything- they don’t make people happy, healthy or successful. Think about it- a diamond is just a glittery rock. Similarly dollars are just paper. Diamondonians aren’t stupider than us, we just have different value systems so we chase diamonds instead of candles. Because our world places such a high value on “diamonds”(material objects) we constantly strive for diamonds when we may be missing something more valuable. Certainly money or candles have value and are needed but at the end of the day they are only there to get you to your goal- they aren’t a goal.