When Does Impact Become Income?

Having an impact is a beautiful thing.

When the work you do inspires, influences, challenges,
sparks, motivates and helps people in a palpable way, you experience
existential validation, professional confirmation and personal gratification.

Unfortunately, you don’t always experience financial
compensation.

And that’s the problem with impact – it doesn’t always
convert to income.

Partly because of priority.
Our society rewards mediocrity, worships incompleteness, celebrates stupidity, encourages
negativity and retweets cynicism. Clearly, impact is not high enough on our
value list.

Partly because of choice.
Do gooders aren’t usually do wellers. It’s the curse of the idealist and the
cross of the change maker. Apparently, impact is something the world expects
for free, out of the kindness of our hearts.

Partly because of time.
Impact always takes longer than we’d like to become evident,
measurable and reimbursable. But that’s the reality of making change. It rarely
adheres to our timetable.

But who am I to make a moral judgment on some sleazy
internet marketing zilchbag who makes millions of dollars spamming total
strangers with bunk offers based on disturbingly detailed personal information
that they bought from some secret database?

The good news is, impact eventually leads to income. Doing
work that matters eventually yields financial dividends. The hard part is trusting
that process, believing that the world will reimburse our efforts accordingly.

Because sometimes, as an impact maker, waiting
around for cash returns to show up can feel like banging your head against a
brick wall.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What have you declined this week?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

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* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Writing, Publishing, Performing, Consulting

[email protected]

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