Xian Yu answered the reader's question: which is more important, money or growth?

foreword

Recently, I launched the "Xian Yu Answers Reader's Questions" activity. If you have any questions you want to ask, please leave a message and I will answer them in order.

text

If you only answer this question in an abstract way, there is no doubt that "growth" is important, because I think "growth" means that you have the ability to get a better matching position, get a higher salary, and achieve more financial freedom, Otherwise, you haven't even done these things. Isn't "growing up" just a beautiful self-fantasy?

But let's talk about a more specific scenario:

I have been working in this company since graduation. When I first graduated, I always felt that growth is the most important thing. Now I have been working in this company for 3 years.

The company feels good, occasionally busy, but most of the time is in control, and life can be balanced, just a little less money, and it's a bit upside down. I'm a little confused now, don't know how to choose money and growth?

This scene may be in line with the troubles of more people.

Seriously, work-life balance is pretty good. Occasionally a bit busy at work, but most of the time is controllable, and the money I give is basically enough. In life, I can run for a run, relax, go out to play on weekends, and travel several times a year. Thinking about it, many people are envious live. But the trouble is that happiness is adaptive, and in human nature, people have the pursuit of extraordinary side, so people will always involuntarily pursue more.

But I say this, not to persuade everyone to find such an environment, just recognize the reality and live a good life, I just want to say that this kind of life is really good, so when there is such a life, cherish it and change the environment Afterwards, you will most likely miss this life.

Back to this question, if you have been working in a company for 3 years, unless the job responsibilities have changed, I think the growth should have grown almost, whether it is job responsibilities, technical structure, or interpersonal relationships, it should be Handy, what can there be extra growth at this time? People will have some natural ability to grow over time, but if there is a relatively large growth, it depends more on some external factors, such as changes in responsibilities, changes in the environment, and so on.

So when I worked for 3 years, thinking about this problem is not so much a question of choosing between money and growth, but I think it is more a question of how to "boil a frog in warm water". That is to say, I am relatively satisfied with the current environment (it is already a comfort zone), but I want more things (money in this case, which is understandable), but do not want to get out of this comfort zone, So there is confusion.

So how to solve this problem? As far as this specific issue is concerned, either endure it, get promoted, or jump ship.

Either way, the first question to ask is, do I still work for this company?

You can ask yourself this question, "Am I willing to work in this company for another 5 years?" If you can't give a clear and positive answer, it means that you are still unwilling, and you will leave here sooner or later, but you just lack a trigger. Just ask. But even if this is the case, it doesn't mean that you should leave here at the moment, it's just the direction of the doomed ending.

Then you should think about promotion and job-hopping. If possible, give priority to promotion. It is not because it will help you to change jobs in the future, but you have worked for 3 years. If you feel that you have grown a lot, promotion is a job for you. and the recognition it deserves for growth.

If you feel that there is not much hope for promotion (don't believe the boss's empty promises), I think you can consider changing jobs. Many students will have the idea of going to Dachang. For example, the job requirements for recruiting front-line students in Alibaba Club are basically 2 to 5 years. After 5 years, it is a watershed, and the requirements will be higher, so working for 3 years is to go to Dachang. the best time.

Although Dachang is actually not as beautiful as everyone imagines, but if you can experience it, you should still experience it. Some people choose to be ordinary after experiencing prosperity, and some people are just ordinary and mediocre. Freedom not only decides what I want to do, but also decides what I don't do.

Regardless of whether you choose to change jobs in the end, for a technical student, the normal development route should be to dig deep in a certain field after a solid foundation, and strive to become an expert in a field. Usually this time point occurs after 2 to 3 years of work. That said, after 2 to 3 years of work, you should pick a technical field and start a conscious deep learning effort to become an expert in that field. Even if you change companies later, you should continue to work hard in this technology field.

Then, you can continue to dig deep into the technical field, but there are also many people who choose the management route. You have to choose these two routes sooner or later. This is a natural change in the outside world's requirements for your abilities over time, and it is also your own. Growing up, striving to create greater value, and finding the inevitable choice for the destination of value.

The reason why I talk about this route is to tell you that even if you don’t consider changes, you must maintain your irreplaceability. The environment can give you a sense of security, but what really makes you safe is your value advantage.

For the first 3 years of work, I prefer growth. I don't think there is any problem. After 3 years of work, which one should I choose between growth and money?

Adults naturally want everything, but different times have different priorities. For example, after working for 3 years, I may be more inclined to money, mainly because money is really happy.

People often say "money doesn't bring happiness" and I believe it. But I think that's what happens when there's a certain amount of money, beyond that, the increase in money won't bring more happiness. However, most of us can't reach that level, please don't worry about things that are so long ago.

Here we talk about money, we talk a little more, maybe because we have been educated to avoid money deliberately, and many people have negative emotions about money subconsciously.

It may be because of the yearning for the unrestrained and indifferent life of the ancients, such as Tao Yuanming's "picking chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge, leisurely seeing the southern mountains", Zhuge Liang's "no indifference, no clear ambition, no tranquility, no far-reaching", Li Bai's "born with my talent, I must It is useful, and it will come back after all the money is gone.” Liu Yuxi’s “Si is a shabby house, but my virtue is Xin”, Du Mu’s “Don’t talk about fame and fortune, fame and fortune are body hatred” and so on, admonishing us to “don’t give in for five buckets of rice”, To be indifferent to fame and fortune, to stay away from money.

In our daily life, we are also exposed to a lot of negative news related to money, such as children competing for inheritance, naked school loans, corruption and bribery, etc. It seems that once it is related to money, it will become degenerate.

Of course, it is also possible that it is because I can't earn much money, and then I can only comfort myself, "money is not a good thing", like a fox who can't eat grapes and says grapes are sour.

Therefore, many people have negative emotions about money subconsciously. If you subconsciously think that money is negative, evil, and degenerate, how can you be happy about having money? This kind of thinking In fact, it is also taking the opportunity to get money unconsciously away from you.

But when I say this, I'm not talking about money worship. Money is actually currency, and its essence is exchange. It is an inevitable product derived from this highly divided society. I understand that people's demand for money is essentially derived from the desire to survive. We need money, but we don’t need to yearn for money. Only when money is above human dignity will money worship arise.

The reason why I say this is because for many well-educated students, or students full of idealism, this trait will be more obvious, and I just want to remind you to put money where it should be. superior. Then you may ask me what is a correct view of money. I may not be able to answer this question. The conclusion may be that "a gentleman loves money and gets it in a proper way", but how to deduce this conclusion, and what exactly do we adhere to about money? Attitude, I haven't thought much about it, because I'm a half-hearted idealist.

Although money is very important, money can only be a means, not a goal. Of course, from a certain point of view, growth is also a means, not a goal. There are advantages and disadvantages between means and means. In fact, there is no absolute right or wrong, so the most important thing is, what is your goal? Or, what kind of life do you want to live?

Nietzsche said: "A man can endure any kind of life when he knows why he lives." If you can know why you live, I believe that you can go out bravely, but also endure dissatisfaction and dormant quietly.

As for how to find "why to live", this is another big problem. Thinking about the original question is written here first.

series of articles

The full list of Xian Yu's answers to readers' questions: https://github.com/mqyqingfeng/Blog

If you like or have inspiration, welcome to star, which is also an encouragement to the author.