As accountants we know all about managing other people’s money, as well as how to help them make more and keep more of it. But what about you? Would you like to make more money?
That’s not a trick question – do you honestly want to make more money? The reason I’m asking is because I can show you how to make more money, but you first have to be clear about why you have the money you currently have, and how you really feel about making more money.
What do you believe about what it will take to make more money? Do you believe you need to make sacrifices to make more? Do you have the ability to HAVE money, as opposed to spending money?
You have to be willing to ask yourself why you have the current net worth you have, what you’ve believed about money up until now, and most importantly, are you willing to make more money. What I’m going to share won’t take up a lot of your time, or require a shift in your stock portfolio, but it will require a shift.
Most people have no idea what kind of relationship they have with money; do you love it, are you always chasing it, or does it never seem like you have enough? Money and wealth appear to be a challenge that either requires you to be a slave to your job, or play the Lottery every day.
It’s important to understand that everything you have in your life, from your house to your family to your bank account, was all created by you. No matter what job or business you have, you can make more money when you first understand the reason that money comes into your life and how to take charge of it.
There are three shifts that need to happen in order for you to make more money, but once you make these shifts, you will understand how to have a much better relationship with money from now on. After making these shifts you’ll discover that making more money is easier than you think, especially when you learn how to change the way you think.
This week I’m going to discuss the three shifts that are necessary to make more money – your money beliefs, time versus value, and learning how to ask.
Your money beliefs
The most powerful tool I have learned, and I use to coach my clients, is the Manage Your Mind Model. I learned this tool from the Life Coach School (they refer to it as The Self Coaching Model) and it is the main tool I have used to create the life I want, including how to make more money.
To briefly summarize the Manage Your Mind Model:
- There are circumstances in your life (ie, the weather, your job, what your husband says, etc.)
- You have thoughts about those circumstances
- Those thoughts create your feelings
- Your feelings fuel your actions
- Your actions, inactions and reactions then create your results
- Your results are everything you have and experience in your life (including money)
The reason this tool is so powerful is that the only thing you really don’t have control over are the circumstances in your life; everything else in the Model is 100% within your control. Your thoughts, feelings, actions and ultimately your results, are within your control.
When it comes to money, you need to understand what you are thinking when you are making money, and also what you are thinking when you aren’t making money. As you can see from the Model, thankfully everything flows down from your thoughts, and your thoughts are 100% optional.
The reason that making more money can seem so difficult and daunting is because there are SO many people’s opinions about what you should be doing. Invest here, move there, sell this, buy this – it’s no wonder you can’t figure out how to do it.
I’m here to make it super simple for you – focus on your brain. As you can see, your thoughts and beliefs about money are going to fuel the actions you take (or don’t take) and will ultimately create your money results.
To help you with the first shift you need to make in order to make more money, here are a few questions to help you understand your beliefs about money, based on the past, present, and future:
- What did your parents teach you about money?
- Were you taught you have to work hard for money?
- When you had money trouble, who did you go to in the past?
- Have you ever helped someone else with money in the past?
- What do you think about money right now?
- What do you think about saving money?
- What do you think about having money?
- What do you think about debt?
- What do you think about money and retiring?
- What do you think about saving for the future?
By getting clear about your beliefs about money, this will help you to understand why you have the current amount of money you have, and how this way of thinking will play out in the future if you don’t change your beliefs. Until you change the cause, you will never change the effect.
Now that you’ve uncovered your money beliefs, it’s time to get clear on how you actually make more money.
Time versus Value
We are all given 24 hours a day to spend however we choose, so how is it that the Warren Buffet’s and Arianna Huffington’s of the world are able to make so much money? It comes down to focusing on creating value as opposed to focusing on time.
This idea can be difficult for accountants, especially in public accounting where billable hours are the norm, because time and effort seem to be the formula for making money. It seems logical that you would either need more time, or more effort, in order to make more money.
As a working mom, the idea of having to figure out where to find more time in your already busy schedule, or the cost of having to put in more effort, can keep you stuck exactly where you are. It can be challenging to even consider making more money when the cost to you and your family seems too big of a price to pay.
The truth is that you do not need to spend more time working or put in more effort to make more money; that is just a belief that you’ve probably never considered challenging before. Instead consider this – what if the more value you provide, whether it’s to your boss or your clients, and the more willing you are to receive money, the more money you’ll make?
For this shift, the key is creating a plan to provide more value but also being open to receiving more money. If you want to make more money, but have limiting beliefs about how to make it or what it will mean to have more money, you’re never going to create the result you want.
To help you with this second shift and creating a plan for creating more value, here are a few questions to think about:
- How much money do you currently believe you can make? Why?
- How much do you want to make?
- What value do you currently provide for the money you earn?
- Have you been overdelivering on value? Why not?
- What does your employer/customer value the most?
- How can you provide more value?
- Are you grateful for the money you have, and open to receiving more?
When you learn to show up as a person who over delivers on value, you will get it back ten-fold, even if it’s not directly received from the people receiving the value. The added benefits of increased self-confidence and changed beliefs about your value as an employee or an entrepreneur, will have a huge ripple effect in your continuing ability to make more money.
When you drop the time and effort belief about making money, and replace it with the value belief, you open the door to many more possibilities. The key is knowing that you can always change how you think about making more money, and focusing on value is the quickest way to create the results you want.
Now that you’re getting clear on the value you provide, it’s time to learn how to ask for money.
Learning how to ask
Whether it’s asking for a raise at work, asking for a client’s business or asking for more help around the house, women have more issues around asking, than men do. Although it could be due to fear of rejection or lack of self-confidence, learning how to ask is imperative when it comes to making more money.
In the book “Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation and Positive Strategies For Change”, author Linda Babcock addresses the gender pay gap and whether it’s intentional or not. Surprisingly, what she discovered is that men are 8 times more likely to ask for more money than women which means that the gender gap can be traced to a negotiating gap.
If you’re not asking for money, it might be because you’ve never been taught how. The good news is that the best way to approach asking is to have already addressed the previous two shifts – addressing your money beliefs and having a plan for creating more value.
It is much easier to ask for money, whether it’s from an employer or a current/potential client, when the perceived value is greater than the cost. When you are clear on the value you provide and you are willing to over deliver on that value, negotiations don’t need to be avoided or uncomfortable.
The reluctance that comes with asking for money is easy to rectify when you come from a place of “What’s in it for them?”. By making the shift from taking something, to giving so much more, you create a much more powerful and easier position to negotiate.
You are much likely to get the result you want when you provide value and over deliver before the ask. When you can ask for money and know how to make it worth their while, you’re building your confidence as well as your value.
Even if you don’t get that raise or that client, it’s still important to continue showing up as if you did and producing at the highest level. Every seed you plant will grow in time.
To help you with this third shift, I suggest you begin making a list of at least 5 ways that you can add value before you ask for money. Spend a little time getting clear about what your employer or client wants, and how you can match that want.
Making more money doesn’t need to be as challenging as it may appear on the surface. Just get clear on what you need to believe about money to get the result you want, shift from a time and effort based to value based way of providing services, and get out there and ask for it. You’ve got this!
Summary
- You have to be willing to ask yourself why you have the current net worth you have, what you’ve believed about money up until now, and most importantly, are you willing to make more money.
- The reason that making more money can seem so difficult and daunting is because there are SO many people’s opinions about what you should be doing but I’m here to make it simple – focus on your brain
- By getting clear about your beliefs about money, this will help you to understand why you have the current amount of money you have, and how this way of thinking will play out in the future if you don’t change your beliefs.
- To make more money you need to begin to shift from a time and effort based view to a value based view and find more ways to add value to your employer or your clients
- When you are clear on the value you provide and you are willing to over deliver on that value, negotiations don’t need to be avoided or uncomfortable.
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