Five Ways That Currency ≠ Money

Follow my blog with Bloglovin I'm not an uber-Hunger Games fan. I tried reading the books and honestly couldn't just get into them; however, I did enjoy the movies quite a bit. While they weren't nearly as quotable as the Harry Potter series, there was one quote that did stick out to me. You'll have to forgive me since I don't remember the precise context, but at one point in Catching Fire, the character Finnick Odair remarks to Katniss that he isn't necessarily interested in money. Rather, he is interested in trading secrets.

That quote stuck with me because I think that when people think about "getting paid", they instantly think about money and that anything that doesn't involve money isn't "getting paid".

I think that line of thinking isn't necessarily correct, and let's get into why.

Let's begin with a little reality check to keep ourselves grounded. Money is great. This post isn't designed to put down the idea of getting paid in the traditional sense at all. We live in a society where we trade money for goods / services, so if you walk away from this post thinking you can escape that... Sorry. It's just not possible.

But this doesn't mean you should do nothing for free, either. Oftentimes, people will refuse to do stuff unless they are getting paid money, and honestly, that's poor thinking, literally. Finnick Odair was aware of that in the Hunger Games series. Instead of working for money, he worked for secrets.

Of course, working for secrets is pretty impractical (read: dumb) in our modern society, but I'm not really convinced there is such thing as "free" work. You will always get "paid" in some form of "currency", and that currency will always manifest itself differently. Here are a handful of ways in which you get "paid" from your hard work:

1. Experience. I think it's Malcolm Gladwell that says you become an expert on a subject by practicing it for 10,000 hours. Experience begets improvement, and depending on what you're gaining experience in, you might be able to monetize it some day.

2. Reputation. This is especially true in volunteer situations. If you do good things for other people, they will pay you back in the form of a good reputation. And just like with experience, you may even monetize your reputation. (Example: My wife was a volunteer at the church in the kids area, and because she had such a good reputation as a volunteer, she was ASKED to join the staff when her position opened.

3. Credibility. This one goes hand-in-hand with reputation. When you do hard work in a given area, people notice, and generally, that makes you a more credible source in that field of expertise. And again, credibility can lead to a job that pays you real money.

4. Good vibes. Sometimes, working for others for free is rewarding in its own capacity. This is especially relevant to volunteer situations. When you help others, it makes you feel good, and that is a form of currency in and of itself.

5. Entertainment. Along with the last one, it's possible that the work you do is genuinely fun. For me, I genuinely enjoy creating my graphic designs. It often takes several hours to create a new design, but there have been times when I purposefully chose to work on a piece of graphic art instead of playing a video game.

Those are just five ways in currency doesn't necessarily mean earning money. One thing that I want to point out to you is that several of these tracks led to getting money. So you might be working "for free" right now, but it's possible that that free work can turn into money.

Ask any comedian that. The big names of today will tell you that they clearly didn't start on the stage of Madison Square Garden. It started by working the small, open mic nights and crusty bars and didn't make a penny. But you know what they did gain? Experience, reputation, and credibility. (And, arguably, entertainment.)

The next time you are asked to do "free" work, keep this post in mind.