If Money Was No Object, I’d Still Be a Work in Progress

If money wasn't an object, would you change anything? Our financial endeavors are an essential driver towards success. Yet, sometimes, our monetary ambitions can tempt us to act out of character. So what if we took out the variable of money. Would we act any differently? In essence, would we still be driven to seek a life of growth? In today's episode, we explore Japan's work philosophy through tipping culture, money as a decision-making tool, and the value of living life as a work in progress.

If money wasn't an object, I'd still be a work in progress.

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Transcript

How’s it everyone, my name is Mike Cabuco, and welcome to another episode of the Love Notes for Life podcast, your creative space for amplifying greatness through gratitude.

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So, tips. It’s a very American concept, no? Actually, there was a study done recently by Forbes Adviser in which 2,000 Americans were asked about their tipping behavior and in the study, they found out that about 96% of Americans tip and typically leave a tip, on average, of about 16% of their purchased meal price including tax.

Now for those of you who don’t know what tipping is or it’s just not a big part of your culture i.e. Japan, then tipping in a traditional sense, is basically the act of rewarding positive customer service. For example, tipping can be based on the quality of service received, the cost of dining options, addressing any special requirements, and even how long it took to be seated and served during dine-in. Now, that’s the traditional outlook for tipping. Yet, from my point of view, I don’t think that’s the case anymore. I mean, at least here in the States, it seems like everywhere you go there’s always an option to tip whether you received quality service or not. And, I’m starting to think that the American tipping culture, in my opinion, has become a tad bit (how can I say this) bold.

So, some context. About a year ago, I was out ordering some take-away from a local restaurant and I remember this delivery guy rolling up to pick up some food. And as the server hands him the take-away bag, he says to the guy, “Don’t forget to tip! And don’t forget to tip a lot! This was a lot of food to prepare!”

Yikes. Well. I guess, we’ve gotten to this point America. Good job guys! And now we’ve become the land of preconceived tippers.

Now, don’t get wrong. I believe tips have their purpose. They have their rhyme. They have their reason. They have their place. In fact, I think it’s an important part of American culture. However, when there’s a “request” to tip prior to receiving the service, well, I’m not so sure how to feel about that.

For example, recently a food delivery service app has started testing out a tip service delay feature. So, what this entails to is that if you do not tip, the app actually warns you that the driver will delay your delivery. What? Come again? Did I actually hear that right? Yes, I’m not kidding you. So, if you don’t tip, you are treated with less service than what you were expecting. Hmm. I’m not so sure I follow that type of logic. I mean if that’s the case, then why not just take the word “tip” out and give people the option to pay for an express level of service if you want stuff faster or just pay at baseline and call it a day. Wouldn’t that be the same thing?

And more importantly, what happened to the idea of rewarding positive behavior? I mean, wouldn’t this just enable workers to not even care about customer service in the first place?

So, I mentioned Japan earlier because they have a totally different view on tipping. Back when I used to live there, my parents and I experienced plenty of culture shock moments. I remember eating out the first time in Japan and as usual, we paid for our bill and left a tip at the table. And as we were walking towards our car, one of the servers came rushing towards us and handed us our money back. We tried to tell them that the food and service was amazing and that we just wanted to tip them. But they were shaken albeit confused that we left money as if we forget our precious belonging.

But later that week, we got schooled on Japanese culture and how tipping is actually frowned upon. In Japan, there’s this philosophy that whatever you do in life, you do it to the best of your ability regardless of what type of job it is. It doesn’t matter if your job is fast-food, janitorial services, or even being a garbage truck driver. Your mission in life is to take that mundane job and turn it into a game of growth through refinement. So in the case of the restaurant worker handing us back our money, it was like, they already set their food prices based on their perspective of what quality service is and by us giving them a tip, it was kind of like saying, “I feel sorry for you that you have to work this job and you don’t get paid a lot so therefore I want to give you more money.” Which (in my opinion) is a very non-American way of thinking.

I mean, I’m American. If you give money, I will gladly say “yes, please, and thank you.”

But the whole exercise in whether to tip or not and how different cultures perceive tipping at all consolidates towards the idea of how money can affect our decision-making skills. I mean, would you show up to work if you knew that you wouldn’t receive a paycheck? I mean wouldn’t and that’s for sure! But our modern society even beyond the United States is designed on the reward or incentive system. Charity nowadays is more of an option rather than a necessity and as a whole, we tend to prioritize the idea of “What’s in it for me?”

And it brought forth this question I’ve been struggling to answer for a while now.

If money was no object, how would you act in life?

I’ve made a lot of decisions in my life based on money. I mean, I went to school for engineering not because I knew I was good at it, but primarily because I knew I could make a good salary. And on the flipside, I’ve learned to spend more on what I love and less on the things that don’t give me happiness. And recently, it also made me second guess my decision to continue with my my master’s degree in exercise science. It does seem uncomfortable to see that money leave my beloved checking account. And at the same time, it’s hard to imagine losing out on the salary that I make now in my current profession.

So, the attribute of money has always been there and for better or for worst, it has caused me to redirect my life in many ways. However, what if we could take that “money” out of the discussion, not permanently, but just for the sake of clarity. If money was no object, would I change anything? Would I change how I live and lead my life, and would I be more inclined to doing things more differently?

I think it’s a pretty good question and if you’ve got an easy answer, I’d love to hear it. And spoiler alert, if you ever decide to retire, you’ll have to answer this question eventually. But really though, I think the question is just too much to take on in one sitting. So, how about this. In your life as it stands now, would you change anything if money was no object? And for another way of looking at it, if money was no object, would you still be doing what you’re doing?

When I look at my life, if money was no object I’d probably still be working. Now, that might sound confusing, but let me give you a little context. To me, work isn’t only just about what you do to get paid. Work is purely the idea of working towards something for the sake of growth. Now, that can mean financially in a traditional sense, but it also can mean serving your personal development and strengthening your personal connections. For example, working out as a hobby. I mean, even the word “work” is in the title. Now, if you’re not a professional athlete or some celebrity influencer, then I can guarantee you that the only financial transaction happening is you paying your gym fees. Now, there’s no shame in that, but in all reality, the reason that we go the gym, that we work on our fitness, is not really for financial compensation. But rather, for personal development which can lead to strengthening our personal connections.

So, if we’re inclined to put in our best effort into our own hobbies, then shouldn’t that same energy translate to how we approach our real work? And if there’s a disconnect there, why is that the case? Why do we need compensation to supercharge our work ethics?

Which reminds me of a funny saying that my coworker used to tell me. He said, “Mike, remember this: Minimum pay. Minimum work. Maximum pay. Maximum work.”

I thought the idea was pretty funny and to be honest, I kind of felt that way at my previous jobs. I mean, when I was younger, I really couldn’t grasp that Japanese concept of doing your best regardless of the task at hand. It just didn’t make sense to me at the time. Like, I really put a lot of emphasis on the financial performance relationship. It was a cause-and-effect relationship and I expected, no I demanded proper compensation for the level of effort I was giving. Yet, that mentality prevented me from seeing the big picture. I was so focused on the money and the more I thought about it, the more it stressed me out. I began acting out of character and feeling like I deserved more than what I was given. I became overly selfish with my own time, and I lost any sense of fulfillment and the days at the work dragged on and on and on. I started looking elsewhere. Looking at different career fields because maybe, just maybe that was the answer. Maybe the answer was to ditch engineer and become an artist. Or maybe the answer was to start a business and work for myself. But the more and more I tried to deviate from the path, something would eventually bring me back to clarity.

Eventually I realized that work fulfillment goes beyond the dollars. I realized it was more about being a work in progress.

If money was no object, I’d still be a work in progress.

You probably never heard that saying huh? Because that for you kiddos is an original Love Notes for Life! Haha.

You don’t need extrinsic praise to discover the rewards of being the best at what you do. I think having that type of mindset is vital for developing that type of work ethic that gets noticed and gets rewarded even if it’s not expected. Yes, it’s important to be compensated fairly for what you’re capable of producing. But it’s even more important to perform at your best even when no one is looking. It’s important that the first incentive you get doesn’t come from others, but rather comes directly from within. Rewards are nice. Feeling acceptance is nice. But knowing you put your best foot forward is better than nice. It’s a requirement for growth which can ultimately lead you to the rewards that you desire even if you don’t expect them.

Life is a big “work in progress” so we might as work on the things that are worth it.

So, as we move forward in life, consider what gives your life value beyond extrinsic rewards. Choose to grow your current talents and push away the temptations to perform any less. Sure, we all have the option to stay where we’re at and live with the expectation that rewards will magically show up. But you also have the option to be proactive and grow and move forward and get closer to the rewards that you don’t even expect. 

If money was no object, I’d choose to be better and live life, unshaken, as the best “work in progress.”

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Thanks, y’all for tuning in to another episode of the Love Notes for Life podcast and I look forward to sharing the mindset of greatness through gratitude. If you’re enjoying the Love Notes for Life podcast, please subscribe and leave a 5-star rating on Spotify, Apple, and other major podcast platforms. For the latest updates be sure to track the mindset by following me @mikecabuco on Instagram or Twitter.

Thanks y’all for the support and always remember, “There is beauty in knowing that there is only one of you.” Take care.