Raise the Stakes
Bob Weinstein is a journalist who covers technology, project management, the workplace and career development.
Most people turn squeamish when it comes to asking for a raise. And for good reasons, which include fear of rejection and discomfort about broaching the subject diplomatically. Often, we’re never able to pinpoint the exact reasons. Maybe it also has something to do with the fact that often-negative attitudes toward money are passed from one generation to another.
As children, our parents and teachers encourage us to go out into the world and make our mark and be successful. Success translates to doing something we love, and being well-paid for it. Right or wrong, many of us are taught that the ultimate scorecard determining our self-worth is the amount of money we earn. The more you earn, the better you feel about yourself, and you can also enjoy a better the standard of living.
Yet money is also a subject everyone thinks about yet is reluctant to discuss. Didn’t your folks ever tell you to never ask how much someone is earning because it’s the height of bad taste?
Sigmund Freud, one of the most quoted and famous psychiatrists of all time, had nothing good to say about money. Freud felt that the topic of money is private and--would you believe?--dirty. In an early essay, he said that money does not bring happiness. Clearly, there are some heavy psychological roots to the phrase, “stinking rich.”
Our lives …
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"I never thought much of the courage of a lion-tamer. Inside the cage he is at least safe from people." - George Bernard Shaw |
