This sentence can sound harsh sometimes, right? And there are even those who state with conviction that they “aren’t for sale.”
However, I believe that all of us indeed have a price. When I say price in the professional context I’m referring to the conditions and premises we take into account when we accept or not the offers we come across in our professional lives.
The more or less open we are to such conditions and premises define the “price” each one of us has.
Price doesn’t necessarily have to be financial. Many professionals come to me saying that they would accept less in order to be able to spend more time with their families. Others don’t mind working more than 12 hours and even on weekends for a higher compensation. These are examples of “prices” that professionals can determine for themselves.
All of us have a price. However, not all professionals know that. And for not knowing that, they are open to negotiations or accept proposals without “calculating” all the implications that will result from such decision.
Higher hierarchical positions, promises of accelerated growth or even differentiated compensation packages are reasons that can drive us to consider a new job “without even blinking.”
But many times a decision made without blinking can end up costing a lot.
The reason behind this is that our "price” is also composed of things that are not financial. You can even think that a salary 3 times bigger than yours would help you buy happiness. But if in order to receive such salary you had to do something that made you unhappy, then this extra amount is actually paying for your unhappiness. Like an exchange. And thus the higher salary becomes nothing but a currency in exchange for your unhappiness.
No business can buy you happiness with money, only unhappiness. If you’re in a job you don’t like but you stay because they pay you well, the company is actually paying for your unhappiness. And the unhappier we are at a job the more we tend to think we make little money. Because happiness costs a lot.
The high “price" of happiness includes many other things that are not necessarily financial, think about that. And each one has their own.
What about you? What’s your price?
