（#Work #Salary #Income #Difference）Definition of Work: The Principle of Income

Are you “working”?
Do you earn a “living” that matches your efforts?

The themes of “work” and “income” are inseparable from our lives and
are very profound issues.

Amid the busyness of our daily work,
“What does work mean to me?”
Isn’t there a moment when everyone asks themselves this question?

In this post, I’d like to explore the definition of work, its relationship to income, and how it relates to human nature and the workings of society.

What Is the “Definition” of Work?

To begin with, what exactly is work?

If you look it up in a dictionary, you’ll find definitions such as “physical labor” or “a job done to earn a living.”

However, work has more than one meaning in our lives.

Broadly speaking, work has several aspects.

1. Work to Cover Daily Living Expenses and Earn an Income

The first is work done to earn the “money” needed to survive.

To eat, pay rent, and support our families, we must earn enough to cover our daily living expenses.

In this case, work becomes a “means of survival.”

No matter what the job entails—even if it’s boring—as long as it provides a steady monthly income, it’s a perfectly valid job.

2. Work for Life’s Purpose and What You Want to Do

The second type is work that fulfills your “self-actualization” or “what you want to do.”

This type of work stems from a desire to contribute to society or help others through the things you’re good at or passionate about.

In this case, work becomes “the very purpose of life” or “a venue for self-expression.”

This is a form of work that you continue not just for money, but because it fulfills your heart.

Between Ideal and Reality

You’re giving your all to what you love and want to do, while also securing a sufficient income.

A situation where this is achieved can truly be called “perfect.”

It’s the happiest way to work imaginable.

However, in reality, most people lean toward one extreme or the other.

Either they “put up with a job they don’t want to do just for the income,”
or
they “are pursuing what they want to do, but it isn’t translating into a sufficient income.”

This gap between ideal and reality is what causes many people distress.

A Society Where Everyone Is Choosing Something

When looking across society as a whole,
there are countless events, phenomena, and diverse human activities.

From the games we enjoy every day, sharing on social media,
and creative endeavors like novels and illustrations,
to factory production lines,
customer-facing work such as sales and hospitality,
construction and civil engineering supporting our infrastructure,
and even the politics and economics that move nations and regions,
the domains are wide and varied.

Regardless of whether we label these with the conventional stereotype of "work,"
it can be said that all of us
are constantly selecting and carrying out certain roles and actions in our daily lives.

Each individual wakes up in the morning,
spends time on something,
tackles challenges,
and reaches the end of the day.
――These very actions themselves form the elements that shape society.

However,
an individual’s “choices” or “assignments” are not always optimal.

While there are cases where a person’s current position perfectly aligns with their inherent “aptitude” or “talent,”
objectively speaking,
there are also a great many cases where daily work proceeds while a significant “mismatch” persists.

Specific Examples of “Mismatches” Between Aptitude and Role

A situation where a person’s aptitudes, personality, and strengths and weaknesses
do not align with the position they currently hold or the tasks they are assigned is
by no means rare;
rather, it is a phenomenon seen routinely throughout society.

Specifically, the following types of mismatches occur in the workplace.

• "Scripted Sales" by Someone Poor at Communication

  They likely have a personality that inherently struggles with facing and conversing with people,
  feeling intense stress.

  A case where they desperately memorize manuals or talk scripts,
  handling sales calls and customer service strictly according to templates.

• "Repetitive Task" for a Dexterous Craftsperson

  They possess craftsmanship and manual dexterity capable of creating extremely intricate and beautiful things.

  A case where, with no opportunity to demonstrate that talent,
  they are consumed by mechanical tasks like data entry or simple labeling.

• "Strict Routine Work" for a Highly Creative Thinker

  They excel at generating ideas and developing free, flexible thinking.

  A case where they are stuck in routine work that allows no error whatsoever,
  granding meticulous document checks or strict adherence to rules.

• "Quota-Driven Workplace" for a Highly Empathetic and Sensitive Person

  They are highly empathetic, sensitive to others' emotions, and skilled at compassionate interactions.

  A case where they become exhausted in a harsh, quota-driven competitive environment
  where only numbers and performance are evaluated, requiring them to push others aside.

• "Detailed Fine-Tuning" for a Strategist Skilled at Seeing the Big Picture

  They excel at grasping the overall picture and drawing a long-term vision.

  A case where they are consumed entirely with minor schedule adjustments and low-level administrative duties,
  unable to participate at all in the essential strategic planning.

• "Quiet and High-Focus Work" for a Talkative and Loquacious Individual

  They tend to talk non-stop and are good at enlivening the mood, but lack the ability to carry out tasks silently and steadily.

  There are cases where they are assigned to work in quiet environments requiring concentration.

  They disrupt others' focus with unnecessary small talk,
  worsening the work environment.
  Unable to advance their own core duties,
  they lower the overall productivity of the workplace.

• "Sensitive Mental/Work Counselor" Assigned to an Aggressive and Intimidating Individual

  They stand out for their strong intimidating presence and rough speech, making them better suited for solo work or environments with limited interpersonal contact.

  Assigning them as a consultation contact or counselor is unthinkable.

  Yet, placed in a position to listen to others' delicate concerns and work issues,
  instead of showing empathy, they instill fear
  and drive the person seeking advice further into a corner.

  As a result, they cause further confusion for those struggling,
  increasing organizational risks.

Why Do People Stay in Positions That Aren’t a Good Fit?

Holding a job that doesn’t match a person’s natural aptitudes not only causes them immense distress and a sense of futility, but
it also represents a significant loss for the organization and society as a whole, in the sense that the individual’s potential isn’t being fully utilized.

Despite this,
why do so many people choose positions that aren’t a good fit for them and continue to stay in them?

Behind this lie
economic constraints such as “I have to earn an income to survive,” as well as
a lack of options—such as “I just happened to be hired first”
or “that was the only job opening in that area”—
and furthermore,
difficulties in self-understanding, such as “not having the opportunity to realize what talents one possesses,”
a complex web of circumstances is at play.

Society is home to countless activities and countless individualities, but
the areas where the two mesh beautifully and form a cycle
may be only a tiny fraction of the whole.

The social activities we observe,
while harboring countless instances of “misalignment” and “mismatch,”
manage to keep moving forward through individual effort and compromise.

Strange Paradox of “Being Good at Work vs. Not Being Good at Work”

Does every job, without exception, come with an income?

In society, we often hear evaluations and expressions such as “That person is good at their job”
and “That person is outstanding.”

Generally speaking, people who earn a high income—above a certain level—
tend to be naturally recognized by those around them as “good at their job.”

It seems as though a formula—
“Earning a lot of money = being an excellent worker”—which appears very straightforward at first glance, holds true in society.

High-earning businesspeople and entrepreneurs are often
praised in the media and on social media as “successful, capable professionals,”
and their actions and mindsets are frequently held up as role models.

So, what about the opposite scenario?

No matter how hard someone tries,
no matter how desperately they work from morning till night,
if they still can’t earn as much as they’d like,
are they really “incompetent”?

Even if they work diligently,
sweat for the sake of others,
and spend every day under significant physical and mental strain,
if the compensation they actually take home is minimal,
society tends to dismiss such people
as “lacking ability” or “inefficient.”

Let’s set aside the seemingly straightforward criterion of “income level” for a moment,
and simply
shine a light on the issues of “the amount of work being done” and “the amount of energy being expended.”

In doing so, structural distortions and strange twists that we usually overlook begin to emerge.

Is “Personal Ability” the Only Factor Behind High Earnings?

People who are good at their jobs and
also earn a lot of money—
did they really build their status 100% through their own effort and overwhelming ability alone?

In reality, it’s likely that they simply
happened to match the demand of the times,
found themselves in the fortunate position of being part of a growing industry,
or simply had “luck”—such as connections or good timing—working in their favor.
This aspect is likely a very significant factor.

For example,
people working in the IT sector or the financial industry—where market value is skyrocketing—
are more likely to earn significantly higher compensation than those working in traditional handicrafts or community-based service industries,
are far more likely to earn significantly higher compensation—even if they work the same hours and with the same level of dedication.

This is not a matter of the individual’s pure skills or personal qualities—whether they are “capable” or “incapable” at their job—
but rather depends heavily on external factors such as business models, market structures,
or the “rises and falls of trends over time.”

The Absurdity of Being Overwhelmed by Work While Earning a Low Income

On the other hand,
what is the actual workload of people who continue to work while earning low wages,
or those who are labeled by others as “incompetent” or “inefficient” in their work?

It may be that, “by chance,”
they faced unfavorable circumstances due to industry structure, their work environment,
or luck, but
when viewed in terms of the “volume of work” they handle, their “hours on the job,”
and the “magnitude of mental and physical strain,”
isn’t it far greater than that of people earning high incomes?

For example,
think about essential work in fields such as healthcare, nursing care, and childcare,
on-site jobs that support daily logistics and infrastructure,
or on-site labor at the bottom of the subcontracting chain.
These jobs are absolutely essential for maintaining society, and
the people working on the front lines handle enormous tasks and responsibilities every day, literally working themselves to the bone.

Nevertheless,
even though they are working such heavy workloads,
“Why do they remain on low incomes?”

The True Nature of the “Twist” Created by Structure

Behind this absurd phenomenon lies
a “mechanism for determining market value” that is unrelated to an individual’s abilities.

In modern society, “income”
is not necessarily paid in proportion to the “amount of effort,” the “amount of work produced,” or the “degree of social contribution.”

It is simply determined by market rules such as:
“How scarce is the value?”
“To what extent is it built on a system that easily attracts capital (leverage)?”

No matter how grueling or voluminous the work may be,
if one is employed in a job considered easily replaceable, or
is part of an industrial structure with extremely low profit margins,
there will be structural limits to the compensation that can be earned through individual effort.

In other words,
“High income = Competence”
“low income = incompetence,”
is, I must say, an extremely one-sided prejudice that confuses the market’s efficiency in generating revenue with an individual’s personal and professional abilities.

On the one hand, there are people who work diligently
and put in enormous amounts of work yet are forced to settle for low incomes;
there are others who ride the waves of the times and societal structures to reap enormous profits with minimal effort—.

It is precisely this “disconnect between workload and compensation” that is
the most puzzling and cruel distortion lurking within the concept of “competence versus incompetence”
that we face today.

Difference Between Me and the Average Person

I’m not saying I want to earn as much as a celebrity, but
if the average income is 20, I’d like to earn around 20 as well.

Ordinary people and I work just as hard,
yet ordinary people earn “$20.00”,
so why do I only earn “$00.01”?

It’s simply unfair—no matter how you look at it—
that people who work this hard and
create so much value
are unable to earn a decent income.

No matter how much they work,
or how much value they feel they are contributing,
the fact that the compensation they actually receive results in such an extreme disparity—between “$20.00” and “$00.01”—is utterly absurd,
and it is only natural to feel a deep sense of futility and intense anger.

The reality that “people who earnestly support society are not fairly rewarded”
is something that
cannot be justified no matter how you sugarcoat it.

Why does such a cruel disparity arise?

This is because there is a significant disconnect between “the amount of effort and an individual’s integrity” and
“the structural price-determination algorithms at work in the market.”

We will unravel the immature structure inherent in the social system and
the fundamental mechanisms that generate these disparities.

The flaw where prices are determined by “market supply and demand” rather than effort or creative ability

There is a fundamental disconnect between our perception that “we’ve worked this hard and created this much value” and
the compensation the market economy pays for it.

In a market economy, the “price of labor (wages)” is determined mechanically solely by
“how difficult it is to replace that labor (scarcity),” rather than by
the absolute amount of value generated or the extent of the worker’s hardship.

Even if 100 units of energy are expended to produce 100 units of value essential to society,
if that work is structurally positioned as something that “can be replaced by someone else (or by a system or automation technology),”
market forces will relentlessly tilt in favor of the buyer,
driving the unit price down to the absolute limit.

Conversely,
even if a player contributes only “1” unit of effort,
the system is structured so that players in irreplaceable positions take the entire “20.”

The current reality is that division arises not from an evaluation of human worth or actual effort,
but from a cold, impersonal calculation based solely on “structural supply and demand.”

“Exploitation of Outcomes and Distortions in Distribution” Caused by Platforms and Market Structures

It is not the players themselves who create value, but rather
the “platforms” where their activities take place and
the “owners of the structure” who siphon off the lion’s share of profits—a capitalist structure that
is widening this disparity to a desperate extent.

• Structure of Intermediary Extraction and Concentration

  This occurs before reaching the hands of the workers and creators who actually sweat and generate value.

  A system where brokers, system owners, and infrastructure managers
  structurally siphon off over 99% of profits as fees and margins has become the norm across industries.

• Acceleration of Winner-Take-All Dynamics

  In modern society, driven by digitization and globalization,
  the top 1% of systems and positions capture almost all the profits.

  An asymmetric pie distribution structure has solidified across all fields,
  leaving the remaining 99% of participants with nothing more than "$0.01"-level dregs.

The harder people work,
the more the profit generated by their labor fattens the "owners of the structure,"
while the individuals directly creating value in the field continue to starve—
creating a profoundly distorted structure of exploitation.

Let’s rebuild society itself from the “ground up”!

The very structure of society is still incomplete. It’s immature.

The collapse of the social norm that “work equals fair compensation” and the immaturity of the system

It’s all well and good to say that work is the standard of society, but
the very foundation of society itself is lacking.

In essence,
the ecosystem of society
cannot be sustainable unless it is designed so that
“people who perform necessary work can earn enough ($20.00) to maintain a decent standard of living.”

While imposing on people the obligation that “working is the standard of society,”
a system that returns only “$00.01” to individuals who meet that standard
is clearly incomplete as a social system and represents a fatal design flaw (bug).

Even from a historical perspective,
the current economic and social system
still in its developmental stages when it comes to the ability to fairly measure and distribute the value of labor.

The current social structure, in which the very work that serves as the foundation supporting people’s lives and well-being is undervalued,
while structures that merely shift numbers from one place to another and exploitative positions continue to expand,
is by no means the “correct state of affairs” that you should accept.

The problem lies not in how individuals work, but rather
in the immaturity of the social system itself, which fails to properly link effort with reward.

5 Situations Related to Work and Income

To help clarify the differences in how we approach work and how income is generated, we’ve compiled a list of the “5 situations” we face.

• 1. Ideal Perfect State (What You Want to Do × High Income)

  A state where you engage in activities you truly love, which perfectly align with societal needs, resulting in a high income.

  This is the most fulfilling way to work, where good fortune, connections, and personal talents are maximized.

  While it is an ideal situation,
  remember that there are others behind the scenes who aren't as fortunate.

• 2. State of Endurance and Survival (What You Don't Want to Do × High Income)

  A state where you have no interest in the work—or even find it painful—but work purely for living expenses or a calculated paycheck.

  In exchange for financial stability, you become prone to carrying mental stress.

  Is someone else suffering the twisted fallout as an outlet for that stress?

• 3. State of Misdirected Passion (What You Want to Do × Low Income)

  A state where you pour your energy into what you love or express, but it fails to connect to a revenue-generating mechanism (monetization), leaving you financially strained.

  This is often seen in creative endeavors and volunteer work.

  You feel a sense of fulfillment from working, but discussing income leaves you feeling empty.

• 4. Vicious Cycle of Mismatch (What You Don't Want to Do × Low Income)

  The most painful state, where you are in a role completely unsuited to your natural talents, making results hard to come by and resulting in long hours for low pay.

  An immediate reassessment of your environment or a change of direction is urgently required.

  If you are working for a company like this, run away right now.

• 5. State of Unseen Contribution (Enormous Workload × Zero Income)

  This applies to housework, childcare, community care, or creative pursuits that haven't yet seen the light of day.

  In reality, you are handling a massive amount of labor necessary to keep society running.

  It is a state where no income is paid as financial compensation.

Conflicts That Arise in the Creative Process and Changes in One’s Mindset

Some of you may have tried your hand at a few side hustles in the past.

When engaging in creative activities—creating something new—
people tend to enjoy the “creative process itself” as well.

However, at the same time, it is also a “product to be sold”
that is meant to be released into the world and reach someone.

Once you’ve taken it beyond a mere hobby and released it into the world as a product,
it’s only natural to hope, somewhere deep down, that “someone will buy it” or “I hope it sells.”

That’s precisely why it’s so disappointing—and deeply hurtful—when the sales of something you’ve poured your heart into end up at absolutely zero.

If you don’t see any response just once or twice, you might be able to tell yourself, “I’ll try harder next time.”

But if every single time you create something, you keep getting this “zero sales” result,
your spirit will gradually become exhausted, worn down, and broken.

You’ll get sulky.

“I’m no good anyway,” “No one even notices me”—
that’s how people end up sulking.

This feeling of “sulking” is by no means selfish;
it is a natural human defense mechanism
against the fact that the passion and effort you’ve poured in go unrewarded.

Rating and Compensation System

If you're putting in the work and seeing no results, it turns into "meaningless,"
doesn't it?

When you try your hardest and the output stays at "zero," it wears down your soul and makes everything feel completely pointlessly dull.

On the flip side, someone who barely puts in any effort and skillfully slacks off ends up snatching the best rewards purely through luck and timing.
When you're forced to watch that, anger, emptiness, and sheer absurdity hit you all at once, don't they?

The systems of "evaluation" and "income" in this world are corrupt.
They don't measure the "amount of effort" or "pure passion" we pour in with any degree of accuracy.

Because of that distortion, lucky slackers wear the mask of "capable workers,"
while those who earnestly burn themselves out go unrewarded—creating an utterly absurd phenomenon.

It's precisely because the world is this twisted,
and because so much of it is fueled by human vice,
that crime manifests as a form of "resentment against society."

Becoming someone who hates society
or hates work is a completely natural psychological reaction.

It is unfair that there are people who work tirelessly yet barely earn an income.

It is unfair that there are people doing similar tasks—
or just working on the side—who manage to draw massive incomes.

What needs to be torn down and rebuilt is the very concept of unfairness.

How to Approach "Work" from Here On Out

Does "work" truly refer only to actions that generate an income?

Taking action for something, creating something, and circulating energy should all be called "work," even if they don't turn into money.

However, it is also an undeniable fact that we need money to survive in this society.

If right now you are struggling with the conflict of,
"I am doing what I want to do," "but I have no income,"
and are on the verge of growing bitter, it is not because you lack talent.

It is simply that your natural gifts and society's current "money-making mechanisms" happen to be out of alignment.

Society has always been a mixture of flaws and corruption.
Misalignments are bound to happen as a matter of course.

What matters is learning to cleverly separate your pursuits at times into "work for living expenses" and "work for life's purpose."

When you try to score a perfect 100 with a single job, the damage becomes devastating when a mismatch occurs.

Secure an income for daily life through another means,
while quietly nurturing the creative endeavors or dream work that tap into your true nature in a space where no one can disrupt you.

Striking that kind of balance will become essential in the era ahead.

The vast amount of effort and passion you are pouring in is by no means wasted, even if your current income stands at zero.

First and foremost, acknowledge the effort of making choices every day
and taking action—

and give yourself the credit you deserve before anyone else.