BANGALORE : In the new economy you now find yourself in, you will be compensated not by how hard you work but by how much value you add to the world around you. Think about it. If you are currently being paid $20 an hour, this money is being given to you not simply because you showed up at your desk for those 60 minutes but because you have added 20 dollars’ worth of perceived value during those 60 minutes.
This is why a brain surgeon is paid so much more than a McDonald’s employee. Is the brain surgeon a better person? Not necessarily. Is the brain surgeon smarter? Who knows? But one thing is certain: the brain surgeon has accumulated far more specialised knowledge than the McDonald’s employee.
There are far fewer people who can do what the brain surgeon does and so he is perceived as far more valuable.
This is why the brain surgeon is paid over ten times more than the person who flips burgers. Money simply becomes a symbol for how much value each person has added to the world at large. So to be paid more money in your work, you must add more value to the world.
And the best way to do this is to start becoming a more valuable person. Acquire skills no one else has.
Read books no one else is reading. Think thoughts no one else is thinking.
You cannot have all that you want if you remain the person you are. To get more from life, you need to be more in life.