The $20,000 Question
You're sitting across from a hiring manager. The offer is $140,000. Excellent money by any objective measure. You feel elated, ready to accept on the spot. Then, over lunch with your old college classmate, you learn that her younger sister just got an offer similar to yours.
Suddenly, your great offer doesn't feel so great anymore.
Same salary. Same purchasing power. Same lifestyle. But a completely different emotional response. What changed?
Nothing about the money changed. Everything about your reference point did.