Existence is subject-predicate. When Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am (Je pensé, donc je suis),” “think” was predicate. Predicate is evidence of existence. Predicate is more than evidence; it is existence in time. In the structure of a sentence, we can separate the subject from the predicate. This is an artificial separation. In reality, the subject (the “amness”) is always “ising” — and so am I.
The “ising,” the predication, the subject in motion, is the ultimate expression. I may not have ultimate answers, but I am an ultimate expression. I am certainly not the ultimate expression, but I am a culmination of subject-predicate. And in this place, the special concept of the value proposition becomes especially germane.
My articulation of “am” in the world can be one that achieves a kind of spiritual “yes.” The force of my ultimate expression is measured in the same four quadrants (or dynamics) used in my select work for commercial application: appeal and exclusivity, clarity and credibility. These four form two interdependent dyads.
To some extent, I must predicate myself into existence with clarity. This does not mean I cannot be nuanced; this does not mean that I must “tell all.” This does mean that, on some level, if I want to be heard, I must be understood.
It also means that the understanding must be accompanied by acceptance — I must be believed. Clarity and credibility are the foundation of my life as predication. If the first dyad is effective, then I am heard and believed. But this does not automatically translate into sufficient value.
In the same way, my message must have appeal; that is, my life must have appeal. It must have appeal to my “ideal customer,” the one or ones my life serves. Thus, at the outset I must determine who I am serving.
Clarity is not enough. Credibility is not enough. Appeal, even appeal, is not enough. There remains the second half of the second dyad: exclusivity. My articulation (my life) can be, in some respect, unique. It is not that I must strive to be different; it is only that I must strive to understand how I am different and how I can predicate this difference into the world.
