When I was a kid, I was always hustling the other kids in my neighborhood. And one time, I got busted for running a little scam.

The year was 1992, and I was ten years old. We had a new family who had moved in next door, and by the looks of their kids, I knew I was going to have some buyers on my hands.

I was always finding ways to make money, either through selling used video games, CDs, and more. At one point, I even charged a kid $5 cash to teach him to rollerblade. I had rollerblades. He had just gotten them. I saw an opportunity — therefore, I became a rollerblade instructor immediately, for a price, of course.

So one day, one of these new neighbor kids mentioned needing help with cheat codes for a particular video game. I knew I had the exact thing. A few minutes later, I had the magazine with the codes and the insight for him. Fresh from collecting dust on top of my gaming console.

"$20 for the magazine and you'll have access to all these game codes, do you want it?"

He lit up, sprinted back home, found a $20 bill. Three hours later, his Mom stormed into my garage where my Dad and I were.

"Your son ripped my son off," this woman said to my Dad.

She had a point. The magazine had a retail value of $9.99 printed right on the cover.

I stood there in the garage and it was the first time I realized that value was subjective. Whether the price was $20 or $10 didn't matter; what mattered was that he had a need and I had a way to solve it. To him, solving that need was worth $20. To Mama Frizzle, that value was only the alleged retail value.

The lesson stuck with me because it had nothing to do with video games and everything to do with self-worth.

Nobody accidentally underprices themselves. They do it because it feels safer, quieter, less confrontational. They convince themselves that exposure is enough, loyalty will be rewarded, or someone will eventually notice. Meanwhile, the market is doing exactly what markets do — it pays what you signal you are worth.

The moment you decide what you are worth and are willing to walk if it is not met, everything changes. The right buyers show up. The wrong ones disappear. And for the first time, you stop waiting for permission and start getting paid in full for what you actually bring to the table.