The value of one’s work cannot be expressed in dollars

Maramis Choufani

As a writer and an editor, I’m always getting enticements in my email about “How to get paid what you’re worth,”or “How to create a six- to seven-figure income,” or “Don’t settle for less — sign up for ‘How to create massive impact and earn millions’ now!” Every one of them assures me that what they have to offer is the very best of its kind and I can change my life for the better if I buy their “product” and follow their advice to a “T.”
Yes, imagine! No longer would I have to suffer through earning only $99,000 a year; I can follow their advice and earn $100,000 (I’m being facetious of course) or even a million dollars a year. And all those glowing endorsements from “real” people who’ve signed up attest to the wonders and virtues of the proffered program(s), making it seem like I’d be a fool to not snap it right up.
Most people I know would LOVE to bring in $99,000 a year. Many people would love to bring in $75,000. Would they love to earn $100,000 or more in that same time? Of course, but if it means giving up doing what they currently love to do, or doing something that doesn’t sit quite right with their spirit, I’d say that it’s not a good deal. (One man in these enticement commercials gave up being a “poorly-paid” minister — at $50,000 a year — to go into sales and get that income way up there. Others gave up other kinds of service jobs for the kind of sales and marketing that was dangled in front of them in those well-crafted email videos of solicitation that showed them how they would soon be able to zoom right up that income pole.)
Most businesses or money-making enterprises involve sales in some way. Having been an Army recruiter for several years, I learned all the best responses to all the different ways a would-be recruit might say no. But did I persist in pushing past their “no” to elicit a “yes” from them, no matter what legitimate reason they might have had to decline? My answer to that is no. I always put myself in their shoes (their would-be army boots) and treated them with the dignity that their particular responses merited. And while many would-be recruits no doubt slipped through my fingers, no one who enlisted under me as their recruiter could ever feel coerced or pulled into something without knowing what they were getting into. If any felt the need to have a little time for second thoughts, I gave them the time for that, just like all those big money enticement-offering people state that if you’re not satisfied with the results from following their program, you can ask for your money back within 30 days. (In the background of those video commercials, in a less obvious voiceover than heralding how to earn the big bucks in some amazingly short period of time, I always hear something to the effect of, “Not everyone experiences the same results,” or “We have no way to guarantee your particular ROI,” or the like.)
And that’s as it should be. No one can guarantee your results; that’s why they can charge $2,000 to $25,000 or more for their information, which will hopefully put the wishful dreamer on the path to the big bucks without their having to feel that they are doing anything wrong, since they tell you it can’t be guaranteed.
It cost nothing to join the Army. We offered decent enough pay for taking one of our jobs; free training not only for the job, but to also get your body in its best physical shape; the opportunity to advance your education; uniforms, housing, meals and camaraderie; and perhaps a lot more. And that might be where some recruiters leave off the information-giving phase of their job. Imagine how hard it might be to “sell” an opportunity where the person taking advantage of it knew he or she might die on the job? Of course, most people don’t lose their life when they join the Army, but it is not easy to accept the possibility of the devastation that one might see or live through when countries are at war. And I believe that would-be recruits need to know that. And now, recent events have shown us that even recruiters are at risk, living and working in their community away from so-called harm’s way, but still being targets for those on a mission to terrorize this country and kill those on their hit list.
Regarding those who offer us those opportunities for a relatively high price (relatively high to those who need those opportunities the mostand would have to struggle to come up with those fees), let me say that they may be making money hand over fist, but it’s apparent that many of them don’t really care about quality. I attended a seminar for
would-be writers years ago; what they were offering cost thousands of dollars. Their handbook, written by the honcho of the organization, may well have shown how to make money, but the author sure didn’t know how to write! I read his book and was shocked at how badly it needed editing. And so many of those email commercials, the written parts, were far from error-free.
What I am saying is that there are people who care about quality, there are people who care about service, there are people who care about people — and there are those who care about making money.
Seldom, if ever, would they all be in the same category. And yes, I know that many people would still go for the money.
Good writers, editors, and artists, for example, care about quality; those who care about their country and each other care about service and people; and those who attempt to sell you their information for how to make money at the highest possible amount they can extract from you, care about making as much money as they can. Teachers are not in that category, nor are caregivers. There are many who would love to bump up the amount they are paid for their long hours and hard work, yet it is what they do that matters more than what they get in return.
Some days it just seems a bit much when the next “greatest idea ever” person comes along to sell you his information for changing your life for a mere $2500 — but that includes the free bonuses he’ll throw in if you order today, to say nothing of how much you’ll make if you take advantage of his offer right now. Might an offer like that work for most of those who sign up? I doubt it — yet I think it would be great if they offered that information free to some random people who are interested. What an advertising tool that would be if it worked!
Most people do not have to be enticed into the work that “calls” to them. Teachers become teachers, firemen become firemen, caregivers become caregivers. I do not think the pay is ever the enticement. My personal philosophy about a person’s life work is that one ought to be able to choose one’s life work without money getting in the way. It’s okay to be attracted to a job or a career that might possibly bring in the big bucks, but I believe it is far more important to follow your heart, your passion, your desire to make a difference in someone’s life, or in the world. If “all” you do is save lives or make life better for people in some way, and you don’t get the big bucks, know that while you can’t take money with you, you can take your accomplishments with you in that they will live on in the memories of others and be the foundation for the life you live in the world to come.
So, is money the bottom line of your value in life? Your answer will tell you where you stand.