Thread by @greaterbayo

A Financial Lesson My Wife Taught Me: Never Chase Money 

I was over the moon when I got the employment offer. The new salary was a fifty per cent increase over what I earned at the time and I had started thinking of how I could put the extra money to good use.

I could do with a change of vehicle. It was time for my status to change. I was so happy to show my wife the new offer, but I noticed that she didn't particularly share my enthusiasm.

Later that night, she woke me up from sleep. I sat up, knowing that there was a serious issue at hand. She asked whether I'd given much thought to the job offer. I replied in the affirmative. Next, she asked if I was ready to move to Ogbomoso. I gave another yes.

It made sense to me because at that time, I was working in Ibadan, the state capital, as a relationship manager but I was going to be a branch manager in Ogbomoso, which was a different town. In addition, I would get an official car, something I didn't have in Ibadan.

Finally, she asked me some questions that I couldn't answer: how would I want my resume to read in five years? Would I be able to satisfactorily explain why I left a city like Ibadan for a place considered behind in terms of development, economy, size and potentials?

And would it be easy to make a transition from Ogbomoso to Lagos, for instance?

She counselled me not to be carried away by the official car and the extra disposable income.

She then threw in a clincher: Do I want to chase my career or chase money? That discussion put everything into proper perspective for me. If I chase money, then money will continue to be elusive but if I chase my career, money will eventually come.

In 2007, I had a similar experience. I got two offers from two different organizations same day. One was an international organization while the other was local. However, the local organization paid far more than the international one.

At that point of my life, I knew what I wanted was career advancement and not money. I respectfully met a former boss who wanted to hire me at the local organization to manage the situation.

It was important that he understood why I wouldn't take that offer- in spite of the very attractive salary.

My motivation was the opportunity to go for trainings, learn best-in-class work practices, work in a place with a lot of diversity skills and have that international flavour rub off on my CV. No amount of money could sway me from that.

Many people make that mistake. They are easily swayed by the promise of a better salary, even when there will be no obvious career progression. At the inception of your career, money must never be your only motivation.

You must choose career advancement over cash. I have since then counselled a lot of people who were in my shoes not to make such mistakes. People who do so are not likely to last long.

Back to my initial story- I didn't take the offer. Incidentally the bank went down a few years after- so I may have been rendered jobless.

And of course, I made an easy transition to Lagos from Ibadan eventually which opened countless opportunities- thanks to the lesson my wife taught me that night.

© Bayo Adeyinka
@threadreaderapp unroll

I shared part of this story in my book 30 Career Lessons I Learnt Along The Way. You will also be thrilled reading my previous book 40 Lessons I Learnt Along The Way. Grab your copies by sending a DM to @rovingheights.