One of the saddest ideas to come out of modern work culture is the phrase, "Act your wage."

It's a fascinating sentence because it suggests your standards should rise and fall with your paycheck.

As if the quality of your work belongs to your employer instead of you.

As if excellence is something you only practice when the conditions feel fair.

I couldn't imagine a more dangerous way to move through the world.

The marketplace is completely indifferent to whether your last employer appreciated you. It doesn't care who overlooked you, underpaid you, or failed to recognize your effort.

It rewards people who become exceptionally good at solving difficult problems, reducing risk, creating value, and making other people's lives better.

So imagine voluntarily becoming less capable because someone else disappointed you. 

Scary stuff. 

Somewhere along the way, we convinced ourselves there are only two options: lower our standards or sacrifice ourselves.

But excellence doesn't mean saying yes to everything.

It isn't measured by how late you stay or how much of yourself you're willing to sacrifice.

It's measured by your ability to produce exceptional work without sacrificing yourself in the process.

It requires becoming so capable that overextension becomes unnecessary.

We've gotten really good at mistaking missing skills for evidence of excellence.

The person answering emails at 10 p.m. every night isn't always the hardest worker.

Sometimes they don't know how to prioritize.

The person who says yes to every request and then drowns under the weight of it isn't always being taken advantage of.

Sometimes they don't know how to ask, "What would you like me to deprioritize?"

The person who spends months telling everyone except their manager how overwhelmed they are isn't always the victim of poor leadership.

Sometimes they waited too long to have the conversation.

The person who quits before ever advocating for their compensation often ends up at the next company making the same complaint.

The person who keeps hoping things will magically get better usually already knows they won't.

And when excellence consistently comes at the expense of someone's physical and mental health...

That's rarely an excellence issue.

It's usually a skill issue.

People love to blame anything but themselves for the consequences of poor decisions and being temporarily underdeveloped.

Fortunately, both are within your control.

Every skill can be learned.

Every standard can be chosen.

This entire conversation isn't about working harder.

It's about refusing to outsource your standards to your circumstances.

Do exceptional work because it's who you are.

The marketplace has a funny way of finding and rewarding people like that.