The Way of the Wall Street Warrior

CHAPTER 19Get Paid Like a Player: Make F*ck-You Money

You're not working your butt off for the money, right? You're working for the dignity of a job well done, for the satisfaction of contributing to society, for, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “to be useful, to be honorable, to have made some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

BS! Of course, you're working for the money. If you win the lottery, you're going to quit your job by simply ghosting your boss, then sitting on your ever-fattening ass eating bonbons watching Animal Planet from your château in France.

Now that we've gotten that straight, and even though you know you're never going to win the lottery, keep this one simple idea at the center of your brain: When the time comes to argue for compensation, it's a zero-sum game.

I'll say it again. It's a zero-sum game.

What's that mean for you? It means one more dollar in your pocket is one less dollar for your bosses, and no matter how many Porsches they have in their six-car garages, don't ever forget that greed has no bounds. Your coworker in the next cubicle would sell you down the river for an extra buck. Remember the old adage about the two folks in the woods who just need to outrun each other and not the bear? Same applies here. So come prepared. Convince your boss that you're the crème de la crème and that you deserve more than your fair share. Don't be bashful. You're a luxury good who deserves to be compensated for what you're worth.

But how much are you ...