A Year Without Paychecks

I realize the paycheck mentality runs deep in us.

The temperature is dropping quickly and it’s suddenly fall in Oregon. It’s been almost a year since I quit my corporate job. When I did so, I thought I was free of the paycheck mentality. I was never the kind of worker who would spend hours in overtime, forgetting my own life and merging into the corporate system. Moreover, I had no problem asking for the best rate for the kind of work I did, so I thought I had good self-esteem and independence. (Photo by Michael Dawes)

Boy, what little did I know. I now realize that was exactly the sign of the paycheck mentality. And I find myself shyly coming out of that conditioned mentality finally.

Three signs of hidden paycheck mentality

Paycheck mentality is usually defined as the tendency to seek security and stability over freedom. It is also about dependency.

That is the basic idea, but here are three more critical signs that you are brainwashed in the corporate world, whether you currently work in there or not:

1. You think money for your work in terms of time spent doing the work.
2. You let others decide your value.
3. You compare yourself to others, real or imaginary.

Let me explain into details.

You think money for your work in terms of time spent doing the work.

Most corporate workers are paid by a certain rate, whether it is described as hourly or annual. From factory line workers to their president. You may think the president is different, but if he or she is not the owner, the situation is pretty much the same. It’s just their wage is set by the year and maybe comes with potential bonus.

But a business makes money by delivering value. There are a lot of factors involved, but fundamentally, the more value a business delivers to more people, the more money it makes. So why are the workers in that business are paid by the hour rather than the value they create and deliver?

For efficient handling of paychecks and stability of workforce, I guess.

The problem is, when I left the corporate world, I carried over this corporate paycheck mentality. I was thinking “Well, I made $XXX per hour before, so my first target is to make as much money as I did before.” When I was taking professional coach training course, I also checked other coaches’ rate and figured out what I may be able to claim as a new coach.

Total BS. As a business owner, I need to charge my service based on the value it delivers, not how much time I spend on it. For example, a good coach who can change the life of the client can claim humongous amount (like this guy). On the other hand, if the coaching is really not much more than a friendly chit-chat, that is close to free, and nobody would care about that coach’s livelihood.

I’m currently reviewing my rate for my Akashic Record Reading. There are some business considerations, but I think I’ve got the basic attitude right, finally.

You let others decide your value.

Closely related to point #1, look what I did before to determine the rate of my service. I checked others’ rate. When I was an employee, I did the same, and again, I thought I was doing great because I was not afraid of asking for the top rate.

But no matter how assertive I was, I was NOT the person who determined my rate. My boss had the final say, and I had to either take it or leave it.

I was so used to this “I’m a brilliant assertive employee who can ask for the top rate.” mentality that I didn’t notice what a dis-empowering approach it was. After all, everyone in the company was letting someone else to determine their value, either meekly or assertively – including my boss, the president.

Now that I’m the owner of my business, however, I need to determine my own value. Honestly, it still feels scary to me.

You compare yourself to others, real or imaginary.

This is the flip side of point #2. Because the paycheck is set in the pay system, I always compared myself to others to determine how I was doing as employee. When the company was purchased by another, I compared myself with my counterpart in the new company. Sometimes I compared myself with the imaginary figure described in magazines or movies.

Not that the comparison started in the corporate world. It started long before I entered the corporate world, in the school system, which is just a system to make more employees.

And when I compared myself to others, I NEVER felt good about myself. I was a straight A student – well, actually, better than that, I broke many academic records of my high school, and when I attended the college in US, I graduated with honor – but there was always someone ahead of me. Like that math genius you see in Little Man Tate. And I knew my #1 rank in test scores was something so fragile, unreliable stuff. I wasn’t even doing what I liked doing.

Enough. I don’t want to bring the same comparison-based (fake) self-esteem to my business. Focus on delivering value to my clients. If I can deliver value and make my clients happy, I’m good in my business.

The entrepreneur mentality is about realizing the power within yourself.

This is the best part of being an entrepreneur. It is empowering and liberating. But it took me a whole year to just realize how badly I was conditioned in paycheck mentality.

I recently read a great post written by home-based business marketing expert Naomi Dunford. Well, actually, it was the email she quoted in the post that I felt strongly. It’s an email written by personal development blogger Hunter Nuttall with the subject line of “How to Work from Home When You Have No Fucking Talent”. Here is the excerpt:

“. . . People who are fabulous copywriters can be you or Brian Clark or James Chartrand . . . (more name dropping about “talented” entrepreneurs.) The company I work at is likely to shut down in early October, which is actually great timing because that’s about the point when my tolerance for a corporate environment will be exhausted. I’m looking at what options might be available . . .”

While we all wait for Naomi’s new eBook that addresses this issue, here is my 2c: That is paycheck mentality, Hunter. Wake up. Stop comparing yourself to those big names, see what you can do to create and deliver value, and start doing it. It took me a year, but you are better prepared than I was a year ago (I basically just walked off and moved myself across the continent).

People who has done it knows. Here is Harry’s comment to that post.

“This is so surreal. I’m reading Hunter’s email and thinking, “But I’m a regular Joe, too.” The thing is, we all start at ground zero. I was scared shitless two years ago when I lost my cushy, high-paying, regular 9-5 job. It’s difficult to let go of that security blanket the weekly paycheck provides. James and I had talent, yes. We also had an idea. But that didn’t make it any easier.”

Best wishes to all who are starting to believe in your hidden talents and willing to take action.

Special Thanks

Coincidentally Hunter just published a great interview – of me as Akashic record reader. Please check it out.