STEP FIVE: EARN
The only limitations to your income earning are the limits you place on yourself.
Congrats: You’ve made it to Step 5. The interesting thing about Step 5? It’s probably something you’re already doing.
You’re most likely bringing in an income, whether that’s as an employee, a business owner, or a freelancer.
There are a lot of ways to earn money out there. Each of you reading this has your own.
You’re starting from wherever you are. And, you likely know that there is a natural trend upward over your life for earnings. Historically, individual’s 40’s and 50’s tend to be their highest income earning years, as their experience and tenure increases.
Yet, after our last step, Ask, you are also likely far more conscious of the need to leverage and grow your earnings, and see far more possibilities for getting there.
Earning money is exciting. It creates possibilities.
If you’re curious about how people get rich, there is, of course, research about that!
The data tells us Americans get wealthy in one of three ways: they inherit their money or experience a windfall, they earn their money as employees of corporations, and they earn their money as business owners.
People get rich working for corporations that offer pensions. People get rich working for private companies that offer good employee stock ownership plans. People also get rich working for companies with lucrative employee stock purchase plans, or they work for companies that go public.
Obviously, people get rich working as executives for companies that give them huge compensation plans that are a combination of cash and stock.
And finally, people do get rich working as employees of corporations where either one person has a high income or they both have either medium or high incomes and they keep their spending really, really low over time.
Have you read the book The Millionaire Next Door? It’s these folks that the book was about.
The gist: There’s a lot of dialogue in the entrepreneur community that employees of companies can’t get rich, and that is just not true.
But most people who earn a high income don't retain it or grow their wealth because they're missing the other six steps.
If you want to get on a steeper climb–and if you’re here, I’m assuming you do–you have to take lots of carefully strategized steps to get there.
For some of you, to earn the income you want, you’ll have to change how you earn money. For some of you, you’ll want to look at creating multiple revenue streams. For some, you’ll want to begin investing and taking advantage of compound returns. (More on that, in our next step.)
For some of you, as you heal your relationship to money, you’ll naturally just earn more money. One of my favorite things to hear from clients is their excitement as they tell me they “seem to have become a magnet for money!” Who wouldn’t like that?
The supply of wealth in the world is infinite. Money is not a zero-sum game.
You can attract as much of it to you in this lifetime as you are willing and able. I promise you, it all gets redistributed eventually.
Yes, there are occupations where, full stop, you’re never going to be wealthy off your income alone: Military, elementary education, social work, for example. These occupations are beautiful, noble, and very necessary… and they’re compensated at a relatively low rate.
If you want to plan to earn more, you will likely need to find some other way to get compensated and expand your financial life.
The goal in this step is to start to think about earnings as a kind of intersection between your choices and your thoughts.
If getting to financial freedom is getting from Earth to the moon, you need fuel to propel the rocket ship. And you might just have to get creative about where that income comes from.
For example: Let’s say you went to law school, and later became a law professor at a prestigious law school. You’re likely making somewhere between $160,000 and $275,000 a year. While you’re waiting for your next class to start, maybe the thought pops up that you could actually start a law firm. Suddenly, your current limitation isn’t your real limitation.
Let me be clear: Your earning potential doesn’t come down to manifestation or higher vibrations. It comes down to decisions and action.
Surround yourself with ambitious people. If you don’t have the technical skill you need, go get it. If you need to step out of your comfort zone to make possibilities a reality, practice getting uncomfortable. It’s up to you.
Story time!
I once interviewed a woman named Katie. She worked in civil service for the city government for a decade.
We don’t hear too many stories of people whose careers have been in civil service transitioning to working in corporate America, but Katie did it.
First, she changed her thoughts. She decided she was going to make the move. Then, she changed her choices. She started speaking about it, engaging in conversations with a multitude of people. She learned the vocabulary that would be required of her in a corporate setting. She set her sights on a role that made sense given her skill set.
And she got it.
Since entering corporate America, Katie has quadrupled her income, participated in taking a company to IPO, and now has a VP title. 👏
Pivots are possible. Following the 7 Steps to Wealth framework works.
As long as we live in a free market economy, any level of success is available to you. You can alter your thoughts, your choices, and your actions… and you can earn what you desire.
Possibilities are everywhere when you start looking for them.
Next, we’ll talk about how to take those hard-earned dollars even further. Are you ready for it?
Think you can’t earn more? Think again.
Click here to download The 7 Steps to Wealth, where you’ll find an easy-to-follow guide that keeps you on track through all of the 7 Steps, and includes accompanying audio that will help you break past barriers in your wealth-building journey.
If you want to earn more money, you have to make a change. You’re in exactly the right place to do just that.
All written content in this article is for information purposes only. Opinions expressed herein are solely those of HWM, unless otherwise specifically cited. Material presented is believed to be from reliable sources and no representations are made by our firm as to another parties’ informational accuracy or completeness. All information or ideas provided should be discussed in detail with an advisor, accountant or legal counsel prior to implementation.