[MUSIC] Can you define what is enough for you? Is there a time when you'll have enough money, status, power, toys? One of the hard lessons of this world is that there is always a next level to which to aspire. There's always a promotion, a raise, a bonus, the next big job, the next big thing, a bigger, more prestigious company, a bigger whatever. And at every level there are always pressures and always incentives and a number of the organizations in this world have remarkably perverse incentives. Remember tragedies and stupid systems? There will be stupid systems with dumb incentives every place you work. There's a wonderful article by a man named Stephen Kerr that's now a classic article. It's called On the Folly of Rewarding A While Hoping for B. And he talks in that article about how very often organizations reward exactly the opposite of what they say they value. So an organization may say, we really value teamwork, and then reward individual performance. Sports teams do this a lot, teamwork really matters, and then it's the guy who makes the most baskets or hits the most home runs who makes the most money. An organization may say, we're trying to build value for the long-term. And then we reward quarterly earnings. These things happen in all kinds of settings. Universities, for example, often say we really value the quality of our teaching. And then they only reward publications and research. So there are a lot of times when organizations reward something quite different than you might have thought you signed up for. Kerr's article ends on the following thought, for an organization to act upon its members the formal reward system should positively reinforce desired behavior, not constitute an obstacle to be overcome. Look at the organization that you're in, think about the reward system, think about how it works, and most particularly, think about how it influences you and your choices. Do you remember when you did that exercise in course one, where you articulated your values and then mapped your time, and then looked at whether you spent your time on the things that you said you value? Was your expenditure of time congruent with what you said you value? Across life they won't always be completely in sync. More often than not though, do you achieve a compatibility between what you say you value and how you actually spend your time? Work will always have pressures, it will always have busy times. There's a rhythm to most work calendars. So, there might be times where you don't get to do the things you say you value. Do you achieve it ever? That's worth thinking about. Do a quick exercise and just write a number down, how much is enough for you to feel comfortable? I have this vivid recollection of the first time I felt rich. I had walked into a bookstore and realized that I could buy any book I wanted without having to add up how much it cost. And worry that if I bought too much, I wouldn't have a meal later that week. I think I had just gotten my first salaried job after working as a student hourly all those years. And I have a vivid recollection of that moment where I thought, wow, I'm rich now. And for whatever reason, that moment stayed with me and really influenced the way I thought about money after that. And so, one of the things that I started doing and that I advise all of my students to consider and I advise you to consider, is to think about managing your money in a way that doesn't control you, it supports you and your values and your aspirations. So, payoff your debts, if you have debts pay those off first. And then, as you get advance through your career, when you receive raises, take half of the raise and automatically send it to savings. And only allow your standard of living to escalate by the other half. That money will add up, and it will constitute what I call an ethical cushion. Because the day may come, I hope it never does for you, it does for a lot of people. The day may come when you're asked to do something that would violate your sense of values and your sense of who you are. And if you've built that ethical cushion you've given yourself some freedom that you won't have if you're totally dependent on that money and that salary and that job, for people in your family to keep eating or having a roof over their heads. Let that cushion build so it's big enough that if you're asked to do something someday, that really you're not willing to do, you have that cushion to fall back on and be able to walk away if you need to. [MUSIC] [SOUND]
