The average person craves a salaried job the for comfort, security, and the guarantee they can pay their bills.

But a salary will cost countless people millions of dollars in earned income throughout their career.

It’s ironic that we want a guaranteed income so we can live comfortably leading up to and through retirement.

That’s what society promises, at least, until things become uncomfortable. Using a paystub generator online, such as Paystub.org, can help you stay on top of your monthly earnings and expenses and check if you still have funds for your emergency budgets. 

Once something bad happens—you get fired, laid off, don’t save enough, salary increase doesn’t keep pace with inflation, make bad financial choices, have expensive kids, get divorced—and now you’re far away from a comfortable retirement nest egg plus have less skills and determination to go make your own money.

The salaried gig looks great on the outside, until you dive deeper to see that it’s often the single biggest demotivator and limiting factor to earning more money.

Your Salary Kills Urgency And Entices Laziness

Though not entirely similar, a salary shares some common characteristics of communism.

You get the same paycheck every month regardless of your performance—pretty close to communism.

At many jobs, a guy like Bill will voluntarily show up at 6 AM every work morning and leave at 8 PM, while slacker Johnny over there shows up at 8 AM and leaves at 6 PM and is paid the exact same wage as Bill.

The paycheck doesn’t reflect the reality that Bill worked 20 plus more hours than Johnny and got a heck of a lot more done than Johnny.

Talk about unfair? The salary gig is cruel, I’m telling you.

And since that situation isn’t fair, human nature will get Bill to think, “Stop working so hard. Why bother to put in the extra hours if I’m not rewarded? I’m going to start acting like Johnny because he’s doing just what’s asked of him and the boss doesn’t notice my performance.”

Now I’m not naive to think that bonuses, raises, and promotions aren’t a thing in the workforce—a differentiator from communism.

However, those are just too much out of your control to count on and you’re not rewarded until months or years later. And they often require smart salary negotiation, which is difficult if you’re not practiced, on top of luck.

Plus, in the example above, if Bill decides to work less and deliver less value then he won’t get the bonus or raise even if there’s one available.

The idea is that a salary often persuades workers to do the bare minimum to keep their job and keep getting paid.

It doesn’t entice individuals to give their all each and every day to not only make themselves double the income, but the company double the return on investment in them as well.

Knowing a paycheck is coming has a cocaine effect where you’re addicted to that monthly guaranteed income even though it’s not in your best interest to rely on it.

What’s worse is the damage it does to your overall net worth.

Guaranteed Income Costs You Millions Of Dollars

The addiction of needing a salary will costs millions of people, millions of dollars in lost income.

Let’s take a look at the multiple reasons why a salary sets you up to fail in the chase towards wealth.

For one, the average salary increase in the US doesn’t match the potential of a hustler who gets to decide their own income based on their work ethic.

A May 2017 forecast from WorldatWork predicts that salary increase budgets for U.S. employers will grow 3 percent on average in 2018 across most employee categories.

Say you make $50,000 a year at your 9 to 5 job you despise. Are you going to bust your butt for 261 work days in the year for a 3% salary increase? I’m not. We’re only talking about $1,500 at that rate.

The work compared to the payoff doesn’t add up to a good deal. It’s not motivating to me. It shouldn’t motivate you.

I could work at McDonald’s and come out with more dollars per hour than that thievery.

You’ll drag your feet for a 3% salary increase (+$1,500), but perform like a workhorse if you have a definite opportunity to double your current income (+$50,000).

That’s a difference in $48,600 between the two of them for the year and this is just the beginning. The difference is exponential over the lifetime of a career.

Second, when your income is entirely in your hands—be it as a beginner entrepreneur, commission sales rep, recruiter, or other job—your butt is on the hot seat from the get go to perform.

There’s no room to take it easy if you want to eat that week and keep your business alive.

Plus, you’ll be motivated to save extra money since this can turn into the business’ emergency fund or a payroll account to hire some contractors or full-time employees.

Meaning each dollar you earn has a higher purpose than eating expensive meals and treating yourself to materialistic clothing purchases.

And by investing in your business, your company and you personally will take home more profits than if your income was tied down by a normal 9 to 5 job.

I’m not surprised when I look at the richest people in each state only to find that none of them are salaried works but entrepreneurs and business owners.

Now you don’t have to be an entrepreneur, but you do need a job with no ceiling on your income if you want to get maximum performance out of yourself and the rewards that come with it.

Third, the rate of your learning is immensely sped up when you have to rely on your own work ethic to make money and pay the bills. You can’t afford to be out of the know in your industry if you want to compete with your competitors.

This is the pressure that forces you to gain knowledge and then use that experience to win more deals for yourself.

Plus, you can compound your knowledge to make more money in the future or consult others on the keys to success based on your experience. These opportunities aren’t there in the corporate world.

By getting off the addicting salary drug and choosing your own medicine, you force yourself to provide value to others so you can ultimately get paid what you’re worth.

And the more patient and skilled you become, the greater this income increases over years then decades.

That’s how your income grows by hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, which adds up to millions, instead of 3% and $1,500 (if that) every year.

Work Like You’re Not On Salary

You only get to do this thing called life once.

Why take the safe and boring road with a salaried job that is like driving a minivan straight on a flat road until retirement, when you can take the thrilling road in a sports car up a mountain with jagged cliffs and unbelievable views?

Bet on yourself. Work your face off. And work like you’re not on salary.

By mixing things up, you’ll discover if your company rewards you for going above and beyond what’s asked of you.

And if they do incentivize your efforts then you don’t need to find a different job. Maybe it doesn’t though and you see the writing on the wall: you’re worth millions more than you will ever earn here so you find a better job you love.

It’s like any pursuit in life, you need to get out of your comfort zone to truly push yourself, grow, and become the best version of yourself.

Happiness comes from personal growth. So take the jump and make the most of it.

Millions of dollars are nice, but the feeling of personal satisfaction from working incredibly hard and getting rewarded for it will far trump the money—every time.

Related: Would You Live Off A Dollar A Day To Achieve Your Dreams?