Give Yourself A Raise

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I’m always one for opportunity. And risk management. And the intersection of it all within our personal finances. Which for me, translates to making the most out of every situation. Leveraging the most out of our experiences and knowledge into better ones. Which in this context, is going to be giving yourself a raise. 

Today, I want to provide you with a simple mental model I use to constantly assess where I’m at career-wise, how I can improve, and how to keep it real, all while enjoying the ride along the way. It doesn’t hurt making a few more bucks too while I’m at it.

Hold up - You’re in a satisfying job and already have a career you’re happy with you say? Great! I promise you can still take away something of value here. 

Reframe Your Thinking

Now I’m no believer that you can acquire whatever you want by pure thought alone. You have to have an action component in there otherwise you’ll go nowhere. 

First, understand that you’re worthy and capable - for whatever you want to do. Top companies and schools aside, there’s more to your self worth than a top job or diploma. Understanding this is over half the battle. Knowing this about yourself can take awhile to come to fruition and isn’t easy, but once it does, you’ll find your place. You’ll be amazed what can happen with a vision and some action.

Keep Your Options Open & Be Intentional - Always

I don’t care if it’s a job, education, travel opportunity, a seminar, course, whatever. I don’t care if you started yesterday (okay, maybe try to find where the bathroom is at first). Your future self will thank you, and you never know what might come your way.

Some things I like to do - Always make sure your job board profiles are looking nice. Recruiters are paid to scour sites like Indeed and LinkedIn to fill roles for their clients. Ensure you have a picture, job or education history, a nice bio, and enough to give folks an idea of who you are and where you would like to go.

Be intentional - You like a company and want to learn more but there are no opportunities available? Email them. Find the right person on LinkedIn. Better yet, give them something of value for free. Create a concrete proposition on how you and your proposed idea can add value. Believe me, there’s not very many people doing this.

Education isn’t off limits either. Use the same mindset for applying to schools, courses, clubs, although tailor applications through this mindset. Obviously education isn’t about business proposals/efficiencies. 

Take Calculated Risks 

Life is inherently risky without us even realizing it. The fact that it’s more likely for us to get struck by lightning than win the lottery says a lot. We want to put ourselves in the best position where there is a high probability of success - whatever that means to you. Maybe joining a small start-up isn’t exactly a high probability of success, but there are a lot of opportunities out there that are high risk, high reward. Conduct your due diligence on opportunities on what you stand to gain and also what you stand to lose.

Don’t go out and do something for the sake of it. Understand the why, the how, and how you can leverage risk in your favor.

Life’s Unfair Unfortunately

Despite the above, things are not always going to go to plan. You might have impostor syndrome. The job/education you wanted denied you. You come from a financially disadvantaged background. So what? Your situation and goals are unique - not anyone else’s is like it - so why compare yourself to others? The only person you should be comparing yourself to is two people: Your past self and future self. 

I struggle with comparisons a lot. Looking to my peers to measure my career performance or sometimes blaming external factors for why things are the way they are. Try to take control and ownership of the things you can, and to minimize worrying about what you cannot. After all, our own competition is ourselves. Accepting this isn’t easy, but necessary.

Lastly - Enjoy the Journey!

Don’t make it about the destination. Try, fail, succeed, learn, and do what you have to do to make it work for yourself. Change is constant, embrace it. #YOLO

I believe if you foster a mindset like this, you should be able to go out and chase whatever it is, no problem. You deserve the raise - go out and prove it.

Stay Frosty,

Andrew

PS - Would you be interested in a free, “intentional” Budgeting Template to kick start your personal finances? Let me know by replying to this email! Exciting things in the works.