Job Satisfaction: Stop Following The Money
August 9, 2008 Job Satisfaction, Meaning & Purpose, Pay & Bonuses, Personal Stuff TrackBack URL
“There’s usually a minimum threshold that gets someone to pick a job and stick with it, but beyond that, the things we do are expressions of who we are and what we love and the impact we wish to make, not selfish acts designed to earn a few extra bucks. (No one paid you to read this post, I bet).”
This quote is from an interesting post on Seth Godin’s blog yesterday.
I often get asked questions about my own blog and newsletter -“So why is it free? Where’s the catch..?”
Similarly when I refer candidates to recruiters or pass across business leads to contacts, I sometimes will over hear people say ”That’s good of him - but he is of course getting a financial kick back for it!” – which makes me chuckle as it’s completely untrue.
So why am I doing it..?
Yes, there is a commercial aspect to the newsletter and blog - writing articles is a way of marketing me, my ideas and my expertise. But a large part of it has nothing to do with money at all. Similarly, I don’t refer people or business to make commission or a earn a ‘kick back.’ It’s not my style.
Read Seth’s post and you’ll understand why I blog, why I suggest resources and why I refer people and leads. At a very basic level, I do it simply because I enjoy these activities and because I believe I am very good at them.
But beyond that, these activities enable me to be of service, to make a difference and to cultivate relationships. These are the real key’s to job satisfaction and to creating real meaning and purpose in the work you do.
Of course, you need to be earning suffciently to meet your lifestyle needs. Plus there will be periods in all our lives when we need to be very focussed on the salary for a period of time. But being focussed on just the money over the long term is a sure way to an unfulfilling career. Given the ammount of waking hours you spend at work, it is also a sure fire way to a pretty unfulfilling life.
If you find yourself just following the money, read of this article now. It will make you think….
See Related Posts
“WHY?” The Most Important Question to Ask Yourself
August 12th, 2008 at 5:37 am
Great article Sital. Good points on money not being the focus of real job satisfaction. Money is important, but a boss saying “please”, “thank you” or “great job” goes a long way to making people feel fulfilled in their job.
Carl E. Reid, CSI
April 13th, 2009 at 11:33 am
[...] 7 days ago2 votesFirstborn is a Smart Career Move>> saved by vickydelosmontes 23 days ago4 votesJob Satisfaction: Stop Following The Money>> saved by joshlewis 31 days ago6 votesNetwerven puts its recruiters on GPS>> saved by musabd 37 [...]
March 6th, 2010 at 3:59 am
[...] Job Satisfaction: Stop Chasing The Money [...]