Picture this: you’re at your job, working on a typical day’s work. Your boss comes over and says that something major has happened, and the company needs you to take on an extra task. What do you say?
There isn’t much opportunity for you to say no – in a very real sense, your job is to simply do what your boss says. Neither is there much opportunity to negotiate over the task. You can ask for a raise, but in many cases you won’t receive one, and in fact, your direct boss may not even be empowered to make such a decision.
Now imagine the reverse situation. You’re at your job, and you complete all the work that’s expected of you for the day by the fourth hour of your shift. What do you do? Do you race to fill the time with more work? You might, but if you do, what do you get out of it? Odds are good that there isn’t much incentive for you to do so.
This is particularly relevant as the North American economy begins to steadily pick back up after the recent recession. As demand increases, companies will seek to squeeze more productivity out of existing workers before looking to increase hiring, an effect already being documented in most industries. That means more work, for the same pay. Not exactly a surefire path to financial security – at least, not for employees.
This is the fundamental problem with the standard forms of compensation (wages and salaries). There is a disconnect between work and wage that is baked into the very concept of the system, and your financial health suffers for it. At best, undertaking extra work lets you hope to earn some brownie points to ask for a raise at a later date. At worst, you’re simply pushed further and further to avoid having to hire anybody else, and then shown the elevated unemployment rate when you talk about compensation.
Look at those words. “Ask” for more money. “Hope” for a raise. What’s missing there? Control. Your control.
That’s the power of PIE. By cutting out the middle man, you restore the connection between your effort and your reward and you enable yourself to take control of your own earning potential. You don’t need a boss or a company to give you work, nor do you need a corporate structure to give you a paycheck; you just need a way to monetize the work that needs doing and create your own paychecks, direct. Monetizing your activities is the key to generating your own Personal Independent Earnings, and it is that independent revenue stream that gives you the power to take control of your financial future.
With wages stagnant for over a decade, it’s clear that the old way of earning a living is past its prime. If you want to regain control over your own financial destiny and reconnect your income with your input, the solution is clear –build the business you deserve and become the boss you’ve always dreamed of working for.
