Your Job; a Rare Opportunity!
Recently, I heard a man talk about salary and how it is not wisdom to work for another person. In fact, he said that a salary is the bribe someone gives you to abandon your vision and pursue his. He got me thinking and it’s the product of my reflections on the matter that I want to share with you on Career Exploits this week.
Your salary is a huge chunk of your wage for the contribution you make in your workplace. It’s the sponsorship you get to be able to sustain yourself, go to work and deliver value to your employer. It is an incentive to continue your work and even do more. Please don’t fix your eyes on the Naira and Kobo as though money is the true worth of the value you deliver to the organization.
The truth is that if you really work diligently and with your mind, your salary is not really the worth of your contribution; it’s only a part payment! The real payment for your labour and contribution in your workplace will come from God. He watches your heart and your actions which your boss can’t even see. It’s on the basis of this that He gives you reward that is due to you.
Your boss can pay for your 8-10 working hours you put in for him; but he may not be able to quantify and pay for the whole-hearted dedication and commitment with which you do your work. He cannot pay for the times you refused to cheat him or the company even when nobody would find out. He cannot pay for the dedication you have for the work that spurs you to learn ways of improving on your performance. He can’t pay for the extra hours you put in at home to tidy up some work so that you don’t disappoint a client.
God pays for that and when it’s time for your reward, that’s your due season. He will bless you for something you think means nothing. He knows what matters and what doesn’t. When He blesses you for your acts of love which no colleague or boss sees, you will ask, “What did I do to deserve all these?”(For more on this, please see God, not Your Boss is Your True Paymaster)
Contrary to the widely held and spread lie that your pay cheque is the bribe someone gives you to abandon your vision and pursue his, it’s actually an opportunity to develop capacity to be able to pursue your vision, if you have any! Pursuit of your vision takes capacity which is not developed from lots of reading and attending of seminars alone. There are things you may never learn, or even learn the hard way if you deny yourself the opportunity of learning under a boss as an employee. Indeed, your job is a rare opportunity which you should grab with your two hands and maximize.
Your salary is not peanut; it’s God’s supply for your today’s needs and should be received with thanksgiving and gratitude to God not complaining and murmuring. You should be grateful to God for the provision he has given you in your salary and not murmur on how small it is. Receive your salary with thanksgiving not envy and jealousy for your boss whom you have made richer than he was with your talents and gifts. There are people with capacity and willingness to work; yet have no job. But you have one with all the opportunities to grow available to you plus your salary. Therefore, receive it with thanksgiving.
It’s easy to tell people to go out and start their own businesses and show them their huge potentials of making money and finding fulfillment. But this is not always a reality because in order to unlock that your potential to earn huge money, you need skill, experience, exposure and expertise which a job offers you. I have seen people who jammed money without having the capacity to manage or multiply it. They kept on spending it without making a dime and eventually went bankrupt.
They didn’t take the privilege of learning what works and what doesn’t from those ahead of them or in another person’s business. They made a little and lost a lot. Their problem is that they did not develop capacity to manage the huge amount of money at their disposal. Your job is a rare opportunity to develop capacity to manage and multiply money. It gives you business sense and empowers you to be self-sufficient.
My point?
Nothing is wrong with taking up paid employment. Although I don’t believe you should be there forever, I don’t see wisdom in trying to be your own boss when you have not developed capacity. Working for another person in the area you want to major in life gives you lots of leverage. Please don’t be quick to jump out and start your own business or reluctant to accept paid employment. Your job is a rare opportunity to pay your dues and sow the seed of prosperity as well as acquire skills and experiences that will empower you to download prosperity.
Join me next Tuesday on Career Exploits as I share with you on how to maximize your days as an employee.
