What’s Your Number?

I hope you're still dating that wise man. I agree--we all have a number, and when I focus on it, I invariably make bad decisions that I later regret. Excellent post. Exactly what I needed to read today!

@Erika Napoletano Erika, first, so glad @Danny Brown finally broke the F-Bomb barrier in the comments it took away the twilight zone feeling I was having.

This is a great, timely post heading into the new year because it's all about "Why we do what we do". Am in the transition of having worked at DuPont, making well into the 6 figures but loathing the Corporate Politics & Incompetence; to coming up a steep 100% commission curve. But it's with a company I love, products & services I love, working with people I love and believe in. This is where a dairy or journal comes into play. There is no stress today (despite occasional negative account balances) that is worse than the Fucking Bullshit Stress (thanks Danny) of doing dumb ass shit because you're supposed to Politically.

I had the Number, platinum handcuffs even... And am grateful to be free of it and working out of passion. Thanks for the reminder and re-focus. Here's to hoping you can de-install the metal detector in your doorway next year and to an overall banner year!

Thanks @gini dietrich for colliding worlds with Erika. :)

I shifted to one job based on the salary provided to me. I mean, only based on that factor. I have regretted that decision till date.

Frankly I don't care about working for passion or working for money. Its more important that you are picking up skills and learning to do the job more efficiently. Sometimes I feel that when we take up a vocation in a field that we are passionate about, we risk losing that passion.

My children have a significant influence on my "number." The question I ask is what will that number allow me to do and at what cost.

I am focused on living my dreams and not dreaming my life but I would be willing to make a few adjustments if it made certain things easier.

For the sake of example, let's say that I went back into sales with a reasonable "guarantee" that it would make private school easier to swing. I might do that for a short while because education is important to me and that is something that can't be taken from my kids.

But overall I am far more interested in focusing my efforts on the things that fuel my passion. It is so much more fulfilling and rewarding.

When I worked at GEICO, I made around 75K per year, now I make about 15K, but I write. I liked my job at GEICO, but I love writing. Would I prefer to write and have money for luxury items like health insurance, sure, but it would take a really big number to stop doing what I'm doing now. If, someone did offer me 82 million dollars, to do something I didn't like, I'd probably take it. I suspect that I'd be less happy than I am now, until the moment that I was done with the task. Then I would go back to the words...from my place in Belize...my very BIG place in Belize.

In thinking about this question, I believe it is the first time in my life where I really didn't have a specific number or think about a huge lottery win. That must be a sign. I did sell 6 books the last 2 days, which netted me well over $12.00, and a hole pile of giddiness. If there is someone who is happier with their situation in life, I'd be surprised. Finding a passion trumps everything.

One of my favorite bloggers on my favorite blog it's like a perfect storm today. How much suffering would I endure for the opportunity to never have to work again is how I would frame this in my mind. Because just getting a huge bump in pay would not be enough to subject oneself to this kind of abuse. Though I suppose there is a lot to be said for turning down any sum of money in favor of something you actually want/love/enjoy to do.

This is what rings truest for me: "..and realize we wasted precious time that could have been spent pursuing what we love instead of what we accepted money to do."

I'm not sure business can be about love all the time, but it certainly shouldn't be (only) about money, if you went to all the bother to start your own! And for me, it's not even the extra cash that titillates--it's often just any cash at all. There's a hard and nasty learning curve, but an important and valuable one, we all hit in stopping the, "Well, it's a client! How can I say no?" rationalizations.

All that said, I'd still take a million bucks to stop doing client work and start a three-legged cat farm while writing my memoirs. But maybe that's just me.

Personally I've never been able to do something I don't like for any length of time. That's evidenced by the amount of jobs I've had in the past (uh oh now it's on the Internets forever). For a long time I though that that's because I'm an entrepreneur and see things differently than other folks. However that's not true. It's a matter of mindset and determining priorities, something that @Danny Brown mentioned in his comment.

In the United States there's a culture of getting ahead and making as much money as possible, at least those are the messages I've gotten for years. And as I've gotten older (though I'm not *that* old :) I've come to realize that the pursuit of nothing but money is a grand waste of time as money comes and goes, stuff comes and goes, and if you've got skillz you can always get more of both.

I've also seen marketers sell out and start sending paid tweets and other nonsense that tells me their number is really low.

So I guess what I'm trying to say in a round about way is that being true to yourself and your principles is more important than any amount of money. Money bringing happiness is lie; it's fleeting. Only we can make ourselves happy. And I prefer happiness over any amount of money because I know that in the end it's my choice.

Had the number, got the number and have now given up the number. Just got bought out for a trivial amount and will be ding my best to stay out of office building and elevators as I embark upon creative marketing and copy consulting. Thanks for the article, Red.

So glad to see you here Red. Thanks Lisa. Finally, some quality writing. ha. Hi Gini. Luv ya.

Love this post. I guess it all depends on how bad you need the money and/or how much integrity and passion you really have. I am doing something I love now. The CARE Movement is my passion and purpose. My gut seems to be a good judge of what I should do. Like Christine says below, I believe the number will come, whatever it is. I need to stay true to my heart. Just keep on keepin on and stay on the path. Faithful & Grateful. Always. Take CARE, Red.

Al

The sacrifices I have made are many and they have taken me far from "The Number." Contrarily they are inspired by family, integrity, and holding true to my own ideals. I have left professional situations in which I felt those ideals were compromised. I like to hold on to the idea that in the end - The Number will come on its own organically.

Trust your gut and know what you are worth ... and go with that.

I'll never forget my client, many moons ago who messed up the press event I'd been organising with last minute changes (he finally scheduled it for 7:30pm on a Friday night and STILL had no clear idea on what was going to be revealed). Needless to say I told him I was trying my best to make it still happen - he told me he was PAYING me so I HAD to do it.

It went ahead and went ok but I fired him the next day.

You know, I think a lot comes down to how important money is to you too. Does it rule your life that you'll sell your soul to make a million, or can you survive on a certain amount and feel that you want to give the rest away?

Money's a funny thing, and makes us do even funnier things. I'd rather be at a job I love for less than a job I hate for more, and one that cause me to lose my family or loved ones because I spend twice the amount of time at the office for only a third as much.

If that makes sense. I dunno - I'm rambling because I'm still in confusion mode why there's no proper cursing in this post. ;-)

This is exactly why I gave up Facebook for Myspace. I was completely wasting time on Facebook chatting with @ginidietrich and @Danny Brown or occasionally going cyber bullying with @bdorman264 but I was spinning my wheels. Now I am on Myspace. No friends to bug me or distract me from work. No, now I am focused.

All kidding aside this is a great post Erika. With lots of wise sage advice. Thank you!

Bravo @Erika Napoletano. Excellent post. One thing that seems to be ignored is that money doesn't buy happiness. It may buy opportunity, but ultimately, what you do with the opportunity is often more important than how you got it. I also think many of use don't take the long view, and only see the immediate impact of walking away. Either that, or we delude ourselves into thinking it'll be OK, really, even though, as you point out, the gut says NO!

In the end, we can only do the best we can with what we have, and hopefully learn a thing or two from our experiences in the three situations you've listed.

9/10, it is better to go with your gut than just focus on "The Number." Might be gamble (find myself in that exact situation), but for me, my gut hasn't steered me wrong. Don't always realize it in the moment, but in hindsight, gut decisions have turned out better than "The Number" decisions.

Even though it shouldn't, depending on where you are in your career (how hungry you are) can have an impact on your decision. You have to know a stinker when you see it and have walk-away power; easier said than done when you are already boiling shoe leather for lunch, but you will like yourself much more afterwards by not getting sucked in.

I'm in commercial insurance sales; a couple of years ago I was able to land the biggest deal of my career; double the size of any previous deal. Life is good, right? Year two when it comes time for renewal and some people in the process wanted to get paid too (under the table). You might think, well there's plenty of money to go around, this should be easy to do, right? Probably not at the cost of my license or my credibility.

I had to walk away; I should have known the culture of the people we were working with this was a common practice, but I just couldn't do it. I guess it's never too late to do the right thing, huh?

It hurt because it impacted my income right away, but it just reinforced me learning to walk away earlier if it's not going to be a good fit.

That's my two cents worth if that is worth anything...........:)

Good to see you at Gini and Lisa's today; hope you are having a happy holiday season.