nobody will work for you. ever. you know that, right?

people do not work for you, they work for themselves.
who do you work for? exactly.

every time you interface with someone you are making an exchange, an exchange of assets or other bargain being struck, whether we realize it or not. at your disposal is anything you have that they want, and of course there is something you want. don't get me wrong, what you want may be as simple as a few minutes enjoying their smile. or it might be the contribution of their talent to your project.

regardless of the type of arrangement sought, the formula remains the same: find the most equitable balance, that suits both parties best and you will have struck a deal. typically it's not hard to see what we want out of it, so the trick is simply understanding what your partner here wants. this should also be pretty easy cause most of the time they will tell you and all you have to do is listen. it's not though, haha. write a note to yourself about it. :)

i think my buddhism mentor may be an exception to this whole theory but probably not.

actually come to think of it there's nothing original here, this is all just regurgitated Behavioralism I probably read back in grade school. :)