My stepdaughter helps me out with odd jobs around the office. For her efforts, she makes some pocket money every month.
Unfortunately, every time we discuss a new project, she gets confounded by the same dilemma.
How much should she get paid for the work?
No two tasks are the same. A blanket hourly amount for everything wouldn’t work so a project–by-project fee is the only reasonable solution.
But as she recently said, “if I ask for too much, I feel bad but if I ask for too little, I wonder if I could have made more!”
As a teenager, she is confronting a problem many of us struggle with all our lives, whether self-employed or salary-based.
And that’s because we have in our heads a limited and unanswerable question – how much am I worth in dollars and cents?
But what if we ask this question – what monetary amount will I accept at this point in my career that serves my needs, integrity and self-esteem?
The key phrase in that question is “at this point” because it means that we are open to the possibilities the future always brings, whether that is tomorrow or five years from now.
Action – Stop trying to put a value on yourself as that is not possible. Remember, salary is never a reflection of your worth.