Episode 21: I Don’t Get Paid Enough

Welcome to Episode 21, my friends. Thanks for listening!

Today I wanted to address 1 sneaky little thought that I have seen destroy job satisfaction and career development.

We are watching what I have heard termed “the great resignation” going on right now. Lots of people leaving their jobs. Lots of people are unhappy in their jobs. I love to talk to clients that are unhappy in their jobs because they often will tell me similar stories.

One of the stories I hear is: I don’t get paid enough.

They don’t pay me enough to do this job.

They owe me for this.

This just isn’t worth it.

There are lots of variations but they all come down to money and that you are not receiving enough.

The reason this is a problem is:

1.       This one creates this emotion of entitlement.

2.       Comes from a place of scarcity.

3.       It usually has very little to do with the actual amount.

The number really doesn’t matter as much.

I have seen people who get paid 30,0000 a year who think they have the world by the tail and others making 200,000 who think they don’t have enough and can’t survive on their wage.

The number is just a number. It’s a fact.

It’s really just math – your expenses vs your income and even gets blurred by geographical differences, your ability to access money from other sources, your needs, your wants, all those definitions, etc.

I heard a talk about the current labour shortage in agriculture and the effect wages was having on it and they compared people who worked in zoos vs feed yards and the work was similar, the pay was similar but one group stays in the job long term and the other seldom stays more than a year or so. There were some very interesting dynamics at play in that comparison causing the differences but the actual wage in the job was similar.  

But instead of us spending time on the math, I wanted to talk about the drama that you add to the math. But the story you tell about that number can have an effect on your job satisfaction.

Now when I took Laurie Santo’s course on Coursera Called the Science of well being.

She talks a bit about this a literally how we are happy with our wage depending on who we are comparing ourselves to So if we think we are the richest person in the neighborhood then we are happier. If we think we are the poorest person in the neighborhood then we are less happy. It actually has nothing to do with the number but how we perceive we are compared to everyone else.

If you catch yourself thinking I don’t get paid enough – first who are you comparing your wage to?

And do you actually have a number that they make or did you make up this number you are comparing to?

Good questions to ask just to see if your brain is simply looking for problems where there isn’t an issue.

Then further investigate the story you are telling yourself about the number and find how it makes you feel.

I often hear feelings like lack, disrespect, anger, frustration, not enough, not appreciated, and  apathy.

These feelings come from a mindset that is looking  for all the evidence where you should get paid more and that others just should recognize it and do it.

Sometimes I hear of requests for raises – sometimes not.

Sometimes I hear employees taking on more tasks (sometimes more than they can actually do) and sometimes not.

Sometimes I hear them looking for other options – sometimes not.

Sometimes I hear of them doing things they want to do for the company, that they think the company needs – sometimes they don’t want to do anything extra.

Sometimes I hear them developing themselves - sometimes not.

Sometimes I hear just plain giving up – I have done this for so long and it didn’t work so I will just not try anymore.

If you have ever heard yourself saying the phase I just don’t get paid enough I want you to investigate it further.

That investigation could sound something like this:

See what you do when you catch yourself saying one of these things: What do you do?

1.       When you think this thought what does it create for you?

2.       Are you a better employee?

3.       Are you really doing your best work?

4.       Are you taking risks?

5.       Are you really developing yourself?

6.       Are you working smarter not harder?

7.       Are you hustling in a sustainable way?

8.       Are you being creative?

9.       Are you failing?

10.   Are you trying for perfection?

11.   Are you helping others out?

12.   Are you taking care of yourself?

13.   Are you enjoyable to work with?

14.   Do you have to have everything done your way?

15.   Are you learning from others?

16.   Are you communicating the facts that others need to know or just the ones you want to tell?

This investigation can be so interesting and can show us how this one little thought is affecting our behavior and based on that behavior – would you pay you more?

Now, what if we thought about wages completely differently.

When I found life coaching it described being paid for a job differently than I had ever considered.

In coaching we teach that you are paid for the value you add and the results you create.

Very different from getting paid for your time.

So if you think you are not getting paid enough then you need to look at the value you add and the results you create.

Do you add more value than you are getting paid for?

If so, then it is your job to get better at demonstrating that value in a way that the company understands or find another company to work for that understands the value that you add.

If not, and you want to get paid more, then you need to find a way to add more value or create more results.

I think it can be that simple when we drop the drama story.

Now some of you may say – I keep adding value and no one cares. The value may take a little while to come back to you but I know that it always does. One thought I use for motivation to keep trying is to remember that if this company does pay for the value that I add, the next company will because this is really about me developing into a person who adds value, and every company wants employees that have that skill.

Now a note – I didn’t say work harder, I didn’t say sacrifice everything for your job. I said to add value. Sometimes we have to approach our jobs in different ways than we have ever considered. We have to look at the things that the company wants, is actually asking for vs the things we want them to want or want them to ask for.

What value can you create?

What value does the company want?

Find where those things match and you will see the magic happen with your wage and your job satisfaction.

Get creative, try a few things out and most of all just don’t give up. You can have the wage you want but you might not get there on your first try or in the way you first thought.

It will be fun.

Have a wonderful week.