Am I an Emotional Millionnaire?
A couple of years ago at a dinner party someone asked me what I did. I told them I was an entrepreneur which was sometimes risky and didn’t always offer financial stability, but it didn’t matter because I considered myself (and still do) an emotional millionaire!
The person I was speaking to was totally intrigued and said “This is so interesting and it’s something all of us should strive for. I envy you”. Even now, he still asks me if I still consider myself an emotional millionaire and my answer is YES! Does this mean I am always happy? No. Does this mean I don’t have challenges or struggles at work? Definitely no! Does this mean I do not have days where I feel stressed? I wish! But hey! I am the creator of the Emotional Salary Barometer! How can this be possible?
What I mean by that term is that my work fulfills me on an emotional level. I am able to recognise and appreciate that my work gives me so many emotional benefits. I’ve learned to also recognise what is missing and take action upon it. I’ve learned to use the research on Emotional Salary on a daily basis to improve my overall wellbeing at work, move from theory to practice and learned to thrive in it. This is my Emotional Salary. So, I would like to share with you a very simple exercise. Believe me you won’t need money, nor a deep understanding of difficult concepts. The first step to start becoming an emotional millionaire, is to become aware of your Emotional Salary. We have a tendency to dismiss simple exercises but this is a mistake. The great thing about simple exercises is that the probability to do them is greater thus, increasing our chances of success.
The 3 second rule to become an Emotional Millionnaire
Every time you become aware of an aspect that supports your emotional salary, take 3 seconds to inhale and exhale and in those 3 seconds, appreciate it.
Think which specific factor of your Emotional Salary it is supporting (for more information about the 10 factors click here). For example, if you have a nice conversation with a colleague maybe it inspired you? (Inspiration), maybe it was fun? (Enjoyment), Maybe it made you think about things from another perspective? (Personal growth), Or maybe it was just nice to talk to her and catch up? (Belonging) Whatever Emotional Salary chord it struck, or if you find yourself saying: “This is the me I want to be!” just mentally register it for 3 seconds.
You can apply a similar exercise if you find yourself in a challenging situation at work. Take 3 seconds to think about how the situation is negatively affecting your Emotional Salary. Ask yourself the 1st question: Is it really negatively impacting it, or is it just making you stretch and grow even further?
If it doesn’t fall under the 1st category, just take two seconds to become aware of how it is impacting you negatively and ask yourself the 2nd Question: what factor of the Emotional Salary is being affected, and how? For example, If politics at the company are bothering you, what factor is being affected? Is it Enjoyment? How? Is it Personal Growth? How? And so on. Once you recognize what it is, you will be able to find new solutions or available opportunities to move on.
If you get into the habit of doing these exercises on a regular basis, you are on the right path to becoming an emotional millionaire! Take my word for it. And if it doesn’t I will treat you to a drink 🍷 or coffee ☕!
If you would like to implement the Emotional Salary as a growth strategy for your team or organisations, we would love to talk to you!
And if you would like to evaluate how certain factors in your organisation are affecting the Emotional Salary of your employees, why not consider doing our free Emotional Salary Sensor?