Everybody wants a higher salary. People who have everything they need, even everything they want, still want a higher salary.
A paycheck has to be understood for what it truly represents. It is not just buying power or life security. To us it symbolizes the value placed in our efforts and abilities, the confidence others have in us.
In your quest for a bigger paycheck, remember what it means to you, and realize that respect for you can be demonstrated even without great financial rewards.
“How much is an afternoon watching my son in the playground worth? For how many dollars would I sell you that day?” Beth asks herself these questions as she ponders whether or not to go back to work full-time.
“If I don’t go back to work, there’ll be no bigger house, no new car, but would I rather have those things than this chance to be a mother?” Beth hears these concerns all the time when she talks with other stay-at-home parents.
Although she has moments of doubt, in the end she says, “Money cannot be the measure of whether I’ve made the right decisions. If it were, I should work seven days a week, never have children, heck, never get married. There are more important things in life, and I shouldn’t just say that but live like I believe it.”
In national surveys comparing income with lifestyles and satisfaction (among people who have what’s necessary to live on), salary increases have no effect on life satisfaction and little influence on work habits.
Eisenberger, Rhoades, and Cameron 1999