Today, a job is necessary. Whether it’s to live your dream or simply to make ends meet. Jobs are what keeps us providing resources to ourselves and one we love. But could your job be taking a toll on you? What if I told you the way you spend your money can be correlated to the excitement you get from your job.

I use myself as an example. I work part-time as an accounting tutor and I must say that I love my job. I love helping students, the staff I work with is phenomenal, and the intrinsic rewards that I receive from doing my job are invaluable. To me, going to work is not forced, I bring myself into work, not drag myself. Every minute I work is not a minute that I think I could be spending doing something better. But a minute that I am assisting students and helping them reach a conceptual level of understanding in their respective fields. The joy that my job brings me sends me home knowing I impacted not the world. But someone’s whole world. And to me, that suffices. That is enough to call the day a success. And want to know what’s even better? I got paid for it! A sign that I receive extrinsic rewards for a job that I primarily do for its intrinsic rewards. Although I admit, with my knowledge and skill set I could be earning twice as much as other occupations. Somehow, I find myself very well off. I spend my money with joy and enrich my overall happiness.

 

Compare this to someone who doesn’t enjoy their job. They might be making twice or more as much as I do. But instead of waking up and loving every minute of their job. They have a different view of their job. They force themselves to work. Every minute that they work the think that they could be doing something better, more useful, or more enjoyable. All they think of work is that “they are making money for someone else” or their skills are not being used to their full potential.  To them, every penny received in the paycheck is “compensation” for the torture and abuse that the organization puts them through.

They feel like every penny earned was because of their hard work and unhappiness in the workplace. And they become more reluctant to spend it. Because they need to spend it on extrinsic items that surpass their pain of work.

In conclusion, I think that there can be a correlation between freedom and happiness. The more freedom you have in your workplace the happier you are, which is a topic in of itself. I leave you with this question. Have your intrinsic rewards been compensated by the paycheck you receive?