Brendan Kane argues you're underpaid if you spend your time, talent, and energy building someone else's dream instead of your own. Work should move you toward your goals. Otherwise, you risk spending decades stagnant, no matter the paycheck.
Here's how you know you're underpaid, and if this is true for you, it's time to quit your job and find something better. There's a quote from the life coach Tony Gaskins who said, "If you don't build your own dream, someone else will hire you to build theirs." What that means is that you're supposed to invest your time, your talent, and your energy into something that matters to you. The whole point of working is that it should move you closer to your own goals and your own future. Instead, if you spend all your effort building someone else's dream, your own growth stalls. You might get a paycheck, you might get recognition, and yet despite this reward, 20 years will go by and you'll still be exactly where you are today. If that's the future you see for yourself, that's how you know you're underpaid.
