Compensatory Dynamics

The more you don’t like something, the more you must be compensated to accept it, and the less the prizes will mean over time.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Many a time, we don’t want success per se. Rather, what we want is compensation for doing something—a job, most of the time—that we don’t like.

We don’t think of success in relationships the way we look at it in, say, careers. If you and I are in love, we just are; there’s nothing to assess. We are happy, and that’s it.

If I’m doing a job I don’t like, however, I really need something to offset this undeniable fact that I hate my work. I’ll probably want the highest pay I can get, and I’ll want the accolades, too.

The point is, thus, an obvious one: the more we don’t like something, the more we’ll seek to be compensated for doing it.

We want the most pay for jobs we must do for the money, but we’ll gladly take a pay cut for those we like. If it’s our passion, we already feel paid; there’s nothing to offset or be compensated for. If we can earn enough to live, we are the happiest people in the world.

Maybe we don’t need higher salaries; maybe there is a…