Each job pays you 5 salaries:

1. Financial
2. Psychological
3. Social
4. Educational
5. Freedom

When we& #39;re unhappy at work, we often focus on getting more of the wrong salary.

This strategic misstep fails to solve our problems, and it& #39;s entirely preventable.

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1/ Let& #39;s first define each salary:

âť¶ Financial: Annual salary, bonuses, equity, healthcare, benefits, etc.

âť· Psychological: The internal and external meaning you derive from your work. Your connection to the mission, product, work you produce, and praise you receive.
2/

❸ Social: Prestige, job title, and identity capital you receive.

âťą Educational: Skills, relationships, and learnings that contribute to your development as a person and professional.

âťş Freedom: Your ability to work on your own terms.
3/ Time and time again, I& #39;ve seen unhappy workers focus on improving their financial and social salaries.

The assumption is that getting more money or a better title will somehow solve their dissatisfaction.

The problem is that money and titles are often not the real problem.
4/ For many people, it& #39;s something else.

Not being challenged. Not feeling respected. Not having autonomy.

Not spending quality time with kids. Not surfing in the mornings.

The psychological, educational, and freedom salaries are lacking.
5/ Assuming the problem is financial or social, people continue to bang on the doors of their managers to get more money or a sweeter job title

Yet even when they& #39;re successful, they get a short-lived bump in happiness and then plateau again.

They didn& #39;t solve the problem.
6/ What’s fascinating is that it’s often easier to get more in the psychological, educational, and freedom salaries.

These are the places where it& #39;s easier to find trades of unequal value – areas where companies can give you something that you find valuable and they find cheap.
7/ None of this is to say that you shouldn& #39;t pursue more money or a better title.

You may be genuinely underpaid. A new title may be the next step in your career.

But don& #39;t lose sight that these things aren’t always the drivers of your dissatisfaction or lack of engagement.
8/ So if you’re unhappy at work, start by rating each of your 5 salaries on a scale of 1 to 10.

This helps you understand the problem and diagnose the biggest areas for improvement.

Next, choose the areas you want to improve and brainstorm some ideas for improvement.
9/ Take action.

Evaluate your options and pursue the ones with the highest expected return for what YOU want out of work.

Don& #39;t optimize for what your friends find cool.

You may not get everything you want, but you& #39;ll get a lot closer than if you default to money or titles.
P.S. I first shared this idea in my bi-monthly newsletter that helps you get more out of your life & business.

If you want more ideas & frameworks like the 5 salaries, you can get them first here: https://calvinrosser.com/newsletter ">https://calvinrosser.com/newslette...
You can follow @calvin_rosser.
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