What's the Quality of the Money that you Earn?

Have you ever thought about the quality of the money that you earn? Yes, you read that right. Quality, not quantity. Everyone thinks about the quantum of earnings. But rarely, if ever, do we think about the quality of money.

What changes the quality of money that we earn? Three things come to mind:

First, what am I giving up to earn the money? Our work often requires us to make important choices. Sometimes our work takes us away from family to a different city. Sometimes, it requires us to travel on work for several days each month giving up on quality time with family, friends and self. Sometimes, there is a conflict between our personal values and our organization's values (stated or unstated!). Sometimes, we are fighting ego battles daily, or experiencing chronic stress, to get ahead. Even at the cost of losing our health. There are no right or wrong choices. The only question is, are we working in a default mode, or are we making conscious choices? Is there another way of approaching work?

Second, how is my livelihood making me feel inside? There are days we come home work and excitedly share with our spouse or child about what we did at our work place. Our energy is infectious and makes the whole family light up. Equally, there are days when either we share something that is weighing us down from work, or worse, we don't share anything at all, keeping the heaviness inside us. Which one is happening more often for you? Does something need to shift?

Third, how does my livelihood nourish my spirit and the spirit of those I work with? When we work with our whole-self, we lose track of time and work feels lighter, even when it is intensely demanding. This happens when the work we are doing is deeply connected to an sense of meaning we are deriving from it. We go above and beyond any expectations, because we feel the "flow". This is perhaps the ultimate form of alignment between the external work we are doing and the internal experience of being. We would love to do this work just for the sake of the work itself.  The work feels like a calling. The earnings are a bonus by-product. What can help you find this alignment?

So ask yourself today (and again in a couple of years from today):

What am I giving up to earn the money?

How is my livelihood making me feel inside?

How does my livelihood nourish my spirit and the spirit of those I work with?

So how does the quality of the money that you earn feel? What are your reflections?

#QualityofMoney

#Fulfilment

#Coachinglife

#LifeCoaching

#Executivecoaching

#LeadershipCoaching

#Createthelifeyoulove

Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash

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The author, Anuj Chadha, is a Leadership Coach, and the Co-Founder of the Thrive Program, designed for Leadership Teams along with Harpreet Arora. To know more, write to anuj@threecircles.co.in or connect@harpreetarora.com

Anuj is the Founder of Three Circles, Faculty & Coach with Leadership Et' Humanite, and an Executive Coach with the Center for Creative Leadership.  

Reach out to Anuj to learn more about coaching, leadership, or simply making authentic human connections!