Thank you for such an honest and open post.

Your career should be fun. It should be fun because it should be profitable. If you are superior, uncommon and scarce relative to demand, you should be compensated accordingly. Biologically, we learn to ignore what is common so that we can conserve our resources for what is uncommon.

I speculate this mood is similar to finding out that you are going to be a father for the first time and it wasn’t expected. You have a career that needs care and feeding.

You aren’t alone in feeling this way. This culture, in general, feels entitled to exceptional wealth without really earning it. There are a lot of people out there who are pretending to be rich. You see them all the time. They drive cars and own houses they really can’t afford. Life will hit a wall for them if they don’t act.

I’m going to give you something you can use that, I speculate, will help you on Thursday.

I know that a good deal of what you say is true – I am essentially replaceable, either as an individual or because my employer (in my area of responsibility, so again it is down to me to make a change) is sometimes seen that way.

The thought of having another item in my life that is an always on responsibility doesn’t sound all that appealing.

However, as you said in your speech at D2WC, I also know it isn’t personal. Globalization, technological advances, and increased competition will happen whether I like them or not, and whether I am ready or not.

I just have to find ways to increase my value and my preparedness.

That part can be exciting – as I find little reward in not being the best I can be, and not functioning at my best is depressing in its own way.