Before a wave of emotional despondency descends upon rank-and-file mediators from Geoff Sharp’s revelation that median mediator income hovers around $67,000, let’s get a little perspective.
First, if you are making $67,000 per year, you are the 52,428,447 richest person in the world and are in the top .87% of the wealthiest people worldwide. See Global Rich List to end your week on a note of gratitude with a donation to the charity of your choice.
Chart from PayScale.
OK. You don’t compare yourself to the people living on less than one or two dollars a day, even though that’s the first item on the list of your myriad blessings. Half of the world’s population — nearly three billion people live on less than two dollars a day.
Check to charity or for a microloan written yet?
But you don’t compare yourself to half the world’s population. You compare yourself to attorneys — a profession you chose not to pursue or that you left to be happier.
The median salary for attorneys who have been in practice between one and four years is — oh my goodness!! — just a couple grand less than the median income for mediators!
And remember, an attorney who has practiced between one and four years has been devoting him/herself to the law for between four and seven years — the first three of which s/he was spending tens of thousands of dollars for a law degree and earning either precisely — or next to — nothing.
So. If you’ve been mediating for between four and seven years and are making something between $50,000 and $100,000 per year, you are doing every bit as well as the median attorney.
Does your weekend look any brighter now?
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