The work you do for your employer is top-notch. But making enough money so that your bank account reflects your awesomeness just isn’t happening for you.
That probably ticks you off just a little bit, doesn’t it?
Making enough money to live off of is not a trivial thing. Not only does it enable you to pay the bills, but it supports you living a comfortable and satisfied life.
It’s what you deserve, and you probably feel like you deserve it.
Still, it’s not a reality for you.
You might be surprised that there are certain personality traits that could be keeping you from making enough money. Here are a few of that may hold you back.
You Give Away Work for Free
More often than not, people who tend to get paid less money for their work have one bad habit—they give away their labor at no cost. Basically, you work for free.
This might mean you work overtime without getting fully compensated for it or do a few “extras” on a project just because you’re nice.
While there is nothing wrong with helping out or being nice, giving work away for free might eventually backfire on you. Specifically on your bank account. Often, when employers know that you’ll do these little extras without being compensated for them, they tend to push their limits.
You’re Unsure of Your Own Worth
A misunderstanding of self-worth in the workplace is nearly an epidemic nowadays. Though this notion doesn’t only pertain to how you feel about yourself. It’s distinctly focused on how much you think the work you do is worth.
Imagine that both you and a co-worker complete a similar project, but your co-worker gets paid more for the project. Do you brush it off thinking their work was probably better than yours anyway or do you demand compensation?
Employers, even good employers, are well-known for squeezing every last drop of work out of you for as little as possible. It’s the nature of business. If you don’t respect how much your work is worth, then no one else will either.
You Put Up with a Smaller Paycheck
It’s not at all a negative quality to be tolerant. But tolerance for less pay means that your paycheck will be smaller than it could be.
Although you don’t necessarily want to receive lower pay than others, you tolerate your employer telling you that you’re not worth any more than what your paycheck says. Rather than putting up a fight to increase your pay, you just put up with it. Or, you complain about it to the wrong people—those who can’t do anything about it.
In the back of your mind, or even in the front of your mind, you know you deserve it. But you just sort of sit back, accept it, and let the pennies coat the bottom of your bank account.
You Dread the Idea of Negotiating
Many people are more willing and even tenacious when it comes to standing up for someone else. These people advocate for others very well but often settle for less when it comes to themselves.
Maybe you had a negative experience when you stood up for yourself and this has jaded the idea of negotiating or speaking up.
Negotiating isn’t fun for most people, but it does support assertive qualities. Basically, being assertive means standing up for what you’re worth. It’s a matter of doing what you don’t want to do—negotiating.
Thus, if you let the idea of negotiating scare you too much, then you can certainly expect not to be making enough money.
—
If you’re ready to change the way you approach making money and work on your personality traits, please contact me. I would be happy to help you become more assertive and earn what you deserve.
