One of my favorite questions to clients and seminar participants is “Are you getting paid what you’re worth?” The answers and the looks I get are interesting! A good percentage of people tell me they are worth more than what shows up in their paycheck.
How about you? Ask yourself yourself this question and see what answer pops up for you. Here’s my answer: “I always get paid exactly what I’m worth…and so do you.” Here’s why I say that: The marketplace will always tell us what our worth is. And there are three factors involved:
The Initial Value The Marketplace Puts On You
Look at it this way: a celebrity is going to be paid more than a nurse. So is an athlete. Someone who has mastered their craft will usually be paid more than someone with less skill. Why? Because that’s how the marketplace rolls. You might be a genius and think you’re worth millions. But if you chose to go into nursing, don’t hold your breath. The marketplace is only going to give you so much as long as you do what the “typical” nurse does.
Your Ability To Sell Yourself At Higher Value
This is the piece so many people fail to understand. You and I are getting paid exactly what we are worth in terms of how well we sell ourselves to ourselves first; then to our employers or clients, whatever situation we may be in. If you think you deserve more money but haven’t yet sold your boss, another company or your clients on that idea, guess what? You don’t really “deserve” more money. And I’m using “deserve” in a pragmatic, business sense. In fact, you and I “deserve” the exact amount of money we are getting. If we want more, it’s up to us to do a better job of selling ourselves and what we offer.
Your Mindset About Money
Our mindset, our beliefs and our expectations affect everything in life. Everything. Including how much money we make. If you believe (I mean really believe, not pretend believe) you are worth $90,000 or a million a year, either way, that’s what you will earn. If you believe you are only worth $45,000, that’s what you’ll earn. Want to dramatically increase what you earn? Then you’d better address what you think, believe and feel about money. In fact, your mindset about money is more important than whether or not you have an MBA.
The bottom line?
The next time you are wanting more money in your life or thinking you should be paid more, think about these three things that determine how much money you earn or attract into your life: The marketplace, your ability to sell yourself and your mindset about money.
Here’s the interesting thing. We don’t have any control over the first area; and we have more control than we usually admit over the last two areas. Guess which area most people focus the most on and complain about? That’s right, the area they have no control over.
Categorized in: Career Success, Prosperity
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