Does your sense of self-worth comes from your net worth?
I still recall receiving my first paycheck from a job I landed after graduating from college. I was literally riding on clouds as I walked home, so thrilled I could not control myself.
But after a few months of paying bills, rent, and other expenses, I came to understand that I would need to be extremely frugal with how I spent my earnings each month. It all began then.
Upon beginning to spend every pound sensibly wherever I went, I came to see that my friends were not in the same situation.
Even though I saw others in Miami on the weekends, at parties every week, and over drinks after work, I was thrilled to be able to buy at Whole Foods once a month.
From this point, the piece can take many different turns, from discussing wise money management to discussing how my friends are drowning in credit card debt or depending on their family for support.
I want to talk about the demoralisation we feel when we attempt to compare our financial net worth with our self-worth in this post, though.
I found myself thinking, "I'm not that smart," "I'm not that assertive," or "I don't have much value to offer to my workplace," a lot during this process. I was, after all, struggling more financially than my friends.
Though I knew in the back of my mind that some of my friends were receiving assistance from their families or that they already had money, all of that was irrelevant when we went out to supper and I was the only one unable to order anything more than an appetiser.
It is so easy to reduce our worth as people to a number that many of us may feel guilty or unworthy of the money we make.
We do this with experiences, services, and things after all. How come we shouldn't take care of ourselves? We consider influencers and superstars to be remarkable people and we brag about their enormous wealth.
Honestly, let's face it. When we can afford upscale goods or experiences, we feel strong, confident, and proud. This is frequently the result of our presenting ourselves to others as important, worthy, strong, or intellectual when we purchase such pricey items. Who else can afford these after all, right?
Consider for a moment what initially springs to mind when you meet someone who travel to exotic places, own large homes, or are obviously very wealthy.
Even if some of us cringe at extremely opulent lives, most of us believe that this individual has remarkable skills that he trades for his wealth. Even in the case that this talent is fraudulent.
Maybe that's the case as well. It is also unreal to totally divorce ourselves from the happiness we experience when we can afford a fancy item or at last receive the pay increase we have been waiting for.
Once more, though, I want to emphasise in this post what I have personally experienced: our human value is unrelated to our income, profits, net worth, or paycheck.