"Turbo-capitalism," "evil money," and "money corrupts character." Are you familiar with these terms and statements? We often hear accusations of laziness, such as "If you would go to work, then...". These are all contradictory and, above all, highly polarizing phrases that we often encounter. As soon as the topics of people and capital collide, things get complicated. Sometimes we even simply ignore the topic altogether. Our goal must therefore be to find a balance between the factors of people and capital.
People are at the center of everything, that's true. Always keep in mind that people don't just get everything handed to them without doing anything. We can't rest on our laurels. We must not stand still, but must constantly develop ourselves further and consider how we can be of service to others. So ask yourself regularly: What can I contribute to society? Opposite people is capital, which evaluates and classifies things. This distinction between people and capital ultimately means that it is the amount of our salary that assigns value to our work.
Unfortunately, this idea does not always hold true—just think of nursing professions. Here, money does not generally reflect the value of the work. At the other end of the spectrum, we find professional soccer players, who are usually disproportionately well paid for their talent with the ball. In a company, if you ask employees about the value of their work, almost every one of them will tell you that they should be paid more. Money creates tension.
How can we resolve this tension?
Where do these tensions come from? Well, money is printed paper. It is we humans who attach emotions and meaning to it. Capital alone cannot exploit anyone. It is only humans who, with the help of capital, become exploiters.
A knife in the hand of a murderer has a completely different meaning than a knife in the hand of a surgeon. A knife does not kill, money does not exploit anyone. It is solely up to the character of the person what happens when people and capital come together.
Now let's take an employer who exploits his employees. In this scenario, the decisive factor is not capital, but the person who owns it. Money is meaningless! What matters is what we project onto it.
There are no bigger lies than those involving money and capital.
Money is not something you talk about! We can hardly mention our salary without immediately triggering a debate about envy. This brings us back to the topic of character. Because the fact is, a bad person becomes worse when they have a lot of money. A philanthropist becomes an even greater humanitarian when they have a lot of capital. Money reinforces character traits.
If we accept that our performance is measured in terms of money, then we must constantly develop ourselves as employees and as people in order to keep control of our capital. If we fail to do so, the capitalist factor will become so dominant that people will be pushed into the background. However, in order for people to remain the focus, they must constantly develop themselves further. In this way, we can ultimately reach a point where people and capital go hand in hand and tensions are finally resolved.
Your task for the coming week
Ask yourself the following question: How can I serve other people so that they are happy to pay me for my work? How can I increase my value to others through what I do?
Why? Because then you will benefit from what you do. Whether you are self-employed or employed, go into depth. Don't fall into the cliché trap, but resolve the tension. Then you will understand the value chain in depth.
That's why you're not really happy.
Why success and fulfillment have nothing to do with each other.
