What if you could triple your salary in a year, but you don’t, because you don’t actually think it is possible?
Can you imagine how your life would transform, if you got a similar job, or even kept the same job – same hours, similar but better responsibilities, same commute – but you were paid three times more for your contributions?
For one: Your taxes would increase, but perhaps you wouldn’t even care about that…
And that’s because with such an influx of constant cash, almost everything important about your life would change.
You’d probably upgrade your car; I know it’s cliche and not that important, but that was the first thing I did when I upgraded my paygrade almost two decades ago – there is no shame in a little indulgence!
Of course, you might first move to a larger home, or maybe, afford one that’s in a reasonable neighborhood. Perhaps you’d finally organize your life for the better, join a gym or go to the doctor to get that thing on your back looked at.
Not to mention how your retirement plans would transform or how the college funds for your current, or future, offspring would grow. You might even start taking vacations that you can brag about on social media. No shame! And if your happiness can motivate others, all the better…
Do you see what I’m getting at?
Believe it or not, deny it or not…
How Much You Get Paid Matters… A LOT!
When you drop all the coping mechanisms most people use like “but my work is meaningful”… Or “but I like my work”… Or “but I’m friends with everyone I work with”… Or the worst one yet, “I would do this even if I didn’t get paid, because I love it so much!”…
When you drop all that nonsense and recognize that you have only a limited number of days on this planet and that you need to maximize your income to make the most of it… Everything changes.
Once you actually face this fact, it becomes time to ask – “Why are you actually making so little?” And the answer might surprise you…
Because it’s not you, at least, it’s not you yet… Until you learn what I’m about to teach you, the responsibility rests squarely on your upbringing. But once you learn it, you will become responsible for your success.
Once you learn this, you cannot unlearn it – so let me warn you:
Do not read the rest of this article if you don’t want the responsibility to shift from your upbringing to you. Otherwise, keep reading.
There is an interesting concept in psychology called learned helplessness.
It occurs when a living being experiences a stressful situation repeatedly, until they reach a point where they start believing that they cannot change their circumstances. And they just give up.
A great example of learned helplessness comes from elephant trainers in India.
You see… Elephants are BIG, intelligent and at times emotional creatures. In fact, it is said that it is extremely dangerous to piss off an elephant because they’ll remember your infraction for their entire life, which is over 60 years! This is why, if you want to train elephants, it is best to keep them as friends, and teach them how to behave early on.
The Indian trainers do this by taking a baby elephant, and tying it to a stake on the ground with a rope that is thick enough to keep the baby elephant in control. Of course, the baby will initially try to get away for hours, maybe even days… But it’s to no avail. The rope is always too strong for it, and thus, it learns to see the rope as unbreakable.
The illusion of such an unbreakable rope is insanely valuable to the elephant trainer. It also happens to be the only thing that can keep a giant 6 ton creature, which can effortlessly barge through any wall or gate without breaking a sweat, confined.
Trapped by a flimsy rope it could snap in two seconds… THAT is learned helplessness!
Now… If you think that you are too smart of a creature to fall for such psychological conditioning… If believe that human society does not brainwash its young with such cruel and limiting illusions that keep them in their assigned place…
You are gravely mistaken.
Unless you come from a family of corporate executives or wealthy government bureaucrats, your upbringing comes with such elephant ropes. Period.
Every one of us has a “Career Imprint”. A set of beliefs, thoughts, and feelings that manifest in our actions and in the way we present ourselves. That imprint is stamped in our brain when we are children by our parents and by our teachers. It is later reinforced by social norms and early work experiences.
And the unfortunate fact is that most of us start with career imprints that are specifically designed to keep us working a lot, while asking for very little, and also, feeling guilty about it the few times we ask for anything.
Of course, these career imprints are not instilled by our parents and teachers to deliberately hurt us. While the vast majority of beliefs that our society propagates are extremely limiting, they are done with good intentions.
And that’s because they are meant for a time which no longer exists: The time of feudal serfdom.
Let me give you some examples of the kinds of ropes most people are bound with:
- You have to work hard and put your time in
- You start somewhere and you work your way up
- An honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay
- My hard earned cash
- If you didn’t get it by working hard, you didn’t deserve it
- Follow your passion, it matters more than money
- Work hard in silence, let success make the noise
- A successful career is not about promotion
- Know your limitations and be content with them
- Accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference
- Promotions will come and go, but your hard work will always shine and show
- It’s not all about success
Make no mistake: We live in a culture that is designed to keep people subservient, limited and oppressed from achieving their potential.
The ironic fact is that it’s not a bunch of evil corporate billionaires that sit in dark rooms plotting to find ways that make the working people suffer.
On the contrary, our system is structured on the principle of aggregated individual success. The more you succeed, the more everyone succeeds.
In other words, as a professional (unless you are a criminal), you don’t get rich at someone else’s expense. We get rich together!
What’s even more mind boggling is that the path to promotions is easier than you imagine…
At it’s core, all you have to do is to show the people you work for that you have the right, success oriented career imprint. All you have to do is to cut the rope…
This is why, throughout my career, my bosses and stakeholders always rooted for me, enabled me to do more, and rewarded me with greater wealth along the way. I’ve done the same for every single member of my teams. I want my employees to get better, earn more, and get promoted beyond their perceived limits, as their success is also my success.
But I do that, as long as they are on the same wavelength…
A successful career can only manifest when you operate in the success paradigm. It happens, when you learn how to communicate at the right channel, demonstrate that you share the same success oriented values, and align your career imprint towards growth.
In other words, success can only happen when you free your mind from the learned helplessness of career serfdom.
When you recognize that the rules society tries to force down your throat or the norms of your industry like “required years of experience” or “promotion ladders”, or the stories people tell you about how their career is going…
When you recognize that most people’s beliefs about their careers are the threads of the rope that keeps them in their place…
Everything changes.
Let’s cut the rope that ties you down!
And let’s transform your career, on your own terms and according to your own vision.