What should inspire happiness in a career?

For years, choosing money over passion for work or vice-versa has been considered a factor for career fulfilment, but in a society where opportunities are limited, what is the best choice?

In the twilight of 2018, the year I practised journalism with unrestrained ardour, doing important stories, getting recognition for my work, I made a difficult career decision. 

I quit journalism. 

It was a hard decision to make because I’d been establishing myself as an energetic journalist doing daring stories, travelling to troubled territories to tell untold stories. 

But when an opportunity to join a French consultancy that operated between Paris and Lagos showed up, I left my darling journalism for two reasons: Better payment and stable income. 

Journalism didn’t offer both satisfactorily. 

Furthermore, a confluence of exposure to a new leadership position and the thrill of working with expatriates also contributed to the career switch. 

Passion or decisions other than money were never a factor. It was more of the aforementioned handpicked metrics. 

Ironically, the glittering factors that inspired the career switch couldn't stop my resignation 15 months later. 

For some months, I didn’t clearly understand why I left. I had no concrete explanation for friends concerned about my decision. 

However, many months later, I found answers to the reason for my unexpected resignation. It was an epiphany that allowed me to put passion or money -- one of the few motivations for choosing a job -- into simple perspective. 

Money > Passion: The concept of incentive theory 

In this subcategory, I’m making a case for money as a motivational factor for work, using a proven theory rather than my opinion. A profound understanding of human behaviour inspires this theory, including what causes situations to happen, and why. 

Generally, theories help us in knowing how to think than what to think. And through the prism of incentive theory, I understood why I took the consultancy job. 

The incentive or agency theory suggests that people see financial rewards as the best way to motivate good results at work. Here, people are encouraged to show up at work every day just for the monetary reward of being paid. 

It’s traced back to 1976, when two economists, Michael Jensen and William Meckling, discovered that people work according to how you pay them. 

There’s nothing entirely wrong with seeking financial compensation to better your lot. For some people, like myself, when I took the consultancy job, it’s a survival strategy, especially in a country where career opportunities are limited. 

Besides, on the highway to success, life thrusts you into two buses. The first is survival, while the second is comfort or luxury. 

In your early 20s, what you think of first is survival — through legal or illegal means. Your loyalty is often tied to the job with the highest financial rewards. 

Our search for a better life and opportunity is often connected to the incentive theory, especially with limited access to promising career opportunities. 

Gordon Marino, a professor of philosophy, provides a cultural context to choosing money over passion in his insightful essay. 

Citing his experience of counselling economically challenged kids, he argued that passion is only a secondary factor that sharpens one’s focus and inspires career success. And it should be considered only after selecting a job that increases one’s economic prospects. 

When passion should count 

I work for a brand strategy agency. It’s a new career path and a tactic to learn the basics of branding, public relations, and marketing. It’s been exciting working here, not because of the money (Although I’d love to earn in 6 figures), but it’s been a learning curve littered with helpful feedback. 

And I dare say I’m passionate about my current job because -- unlike the consultancy job I resigned from -- there’s an absence of job dissatisfaction as at the time of writing this essay. 

And this passion is deeply rooted in the motivation or two-factor theory which flips the incentive theory on its head. 

Developed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg, the two-factor or motivation theory argues that certain factors in a workplace contribute to job satisfaction while a separate set of factors causes dissatisfaction. 

Both factors -- hygiene and motivation -- act independently. 

On the one hand, hygiene factors cause us to be dissatisfied, even if we love the work itself. They are factors like bad company policies, office politics, terrible work conditions, no job security, and compensation packages. 

If any of these factors reign supreme at your place of work, you’re likely to be frustrated, even if you love the job or receive a tangible compensation package.

In this factor, it’s possible to love your job, cherish the big payment package, and still hate it. 

In retrospect, I discovered why I left the juicy consultancy job in 2020 and switched from my darling journalism in 2018—hygiene factors.  

On the flip side of the two-factor theory is the motivation factor. Herzberg’s research notes that this factor includes personal growth, responsibility, recognition, challenging work, and constructive feedback. Here, motivation is much more about intrinsic factors than external factors like money.

The feeling that you’re blossoming in your career, contributing to the success of your organization, and getting recognition for it without external distraction -- such as office politics -- fuels your passion for the work and keeps you excited to show up at work every day. 

This is only when passion matters; If motivation factors promote career growth and happiness. The motivation factor also helps to build capacity for better career opportunities in the future. 

My dear friend, the target is to find a career that provides the right environment for motivation factors, especially in your 20s. 

I also understand that, at this stage, you might consider money as a motivation. It’s a valid strategy for survival, but there’s also wisdom in balance; know when to settle for money, and understand when to pursue career growth as a personal life motivation.

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And that’s all for today’s edition of About 30. I hope you enjoyed reading through it. As always, I’d love to know what you think about it. Talk to me in the comment section.