Bill Hybels concludes Chapter 4 of Simplify by discussing the fourth foundational alignment to filter your former and any potential future job through.
4. Compensation. Most often when we think of the word compensation, we associate the word with cash wages. But compensation is much more than that. Pastor Hybels adds that compensation includes how much a job satisfies our passions and challenges our abilities.
a. Pay versus Passion. In the age-old debate, pay sits on one end of the teeter-totter, passion on the other. It’s either/or. Bill phrases the question this way: “Should you follow your passion and perhaps earn less money, or should you go for the paycheck and downplay or disregard your passion?”
As the author notes, very few people experience the perfect balance between passion and pay. People trying to resolve this dilemma generally choose one of two paths.
b. Low Pay + High Passion= Supplement Your Income. People who choose to remain in low-paying jobs aligning with their passions come up with creative solutions for supplementing their income. When Bill and his wife Lynn founded Willow Creek, the church couldn’t afford to pay them for the first three years. Both took on multiple part-time jobs.
c. High Pay + Low Passion= Supplement Your Passion. People working higher-paying jobs hat are less enjoyable do volunteer work that fills them with joy.
Today’s question: How have you resolved the pay versus passion conundrum? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Relational breakdowns”
