by Rex Apollo
“Work hard and you will be rewarded,” my teachers always told me. We are often told the more effort we put in, the more we will be rewarded. The more we sacrifice in the process of doing something, the more we will receive in exchange. In schools, this reality often proves true. The student that receives an A on their paper is the one who exceeded their teacher’s expectations. They put in more work than their classmates. If putting in more effort in school gets higher grades, then one would think the same technique would work in other areas of our lives, but is this really true?
In virtually every organization I have worked for, the idea that one gets rewarded for working more than the others is invoked to motivate employees. While it is not always explicitly stated, those at the top know that people have been socialized with the idea that the one who does more gets more treats. It is a social convention designed to get people to give everything to a job, a cause, or a relationship.
One who gives everything to their job is not just a worker, but a martyr. While some martyrs may get an occasional treat, giving everything to something does not mean you will get an equal amount in exchange. If that were true, then every worker bee would be a millionaire. From my observations, martyrs are often not appreciated at all. The only martyr who seems to have been given his due was Jesus Christ, who got to have an entire religion in exchange for sacrificing his life.
Being a martyr in most cases does not make you better a person or more successful, only the sucker that got stuck with the short end of the stick. It probably means other people know how to take advantage of you and that you do not know how to assert yourself. You are like the slaves who built the Pyramids while the pharaoh got to sit back in his palace and drink wine. Ask yourself who is remembered today: the pharaoh or the slave? So remember, be smarter and not a martyr!
Rex Apollo is the author of How to Spark Your Golden Age: Tips for Success sold on Amazon.
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Just as great civilizations can have Golden Ages, so can you!