Is It Possible to Be Worth More Than You’re Paid?
On value, reward, and what sustains this work
“Life does not respond to need. It responds to value.”
Is it possible to be worth twice the money you make?
Ten times?
One hundred times?
Most people never seriously ask that question, because it forces an uncomfortable distinction between effort and reward, and between intention and outcome. But it’s also one of the most important questions you can ask, because life doesn’t respond to need. It responds to value.
People don’t earn more because they want more. They earn more because they become more useful, because they increase the quality, depth, or reliability of what they produce. When value increases, reward can follow, but only if that value is recognized and sustained.
That’s true in work, in business, and in life generally. And it’s true here.
What you see on this page is the finished product. What you don’t see is the accumulation behind it, the research that never makes it into the final draft, the arguments that get rewritten or discarded, the time spent slowing down instead of rushing something out. That invisible work is where value is actually created.
Over time, I’ve deliberately chosen to raise the level of this work. The essays here have become more comprehensive, more tightly argued, and more research-driven. Not to increase output. Not to chase attention. But to increase value, to produce something that stands apart from the endless churn of recycled commentary.
That decision has consequences.
Higher-level work takes more time, more focus, and more sustained effort. It cannot be done casually, and it cannot be done indefinitely at a loss. Appreciation is real and encouraging, but appreciation alone doesn’t sustain anything.
Support does.
This is the part that needs to be stated plainly: this work doesn’t continue by default. There is no institution behind it. No staff. No outside funding. No quiet safety net. When reader support is there, the work expands. When it isn’t, it contracts. That isn’t a moral statement. It’s just how the equation works.
At some point, value is either recognized or it disappears.
This isn’t about charity or rescue. It’s about participation. I didn’t wait for support before raising the standard of the work. I raised the standard first. Now the question is whether that standard is worth sustaining for the people who read it.
If this work has helped you think more clearly, see reality more honestly, or understand things you hadn’t before, here are the ways it continues:
To those already supporting this work, thank you. You’re the reason it’s still possible to do this at this level.
I’ll keep doing this work as long as it’s sustainable. If it matters to you, you now know exactly how that happens.
Best regards,
Chris