I don’t know many people that wouldn’t like to have more money, faster. So why is it such a fiscally challenging thing to do for so many people? The answer to this question is actually less complicated than you may think. It has to do with our fundamental understanding of what money is and does. For example; if you were thirsty and I told you I would give you 2 glasses of water for every push-up, hand clap, or jumping jack you could do, you could and would immediately decide two things; 1. How much water you wanted and or needed, 2. Which of the tasks you are willing and capable of doing to get it.
Now think about the same scenario, but instead substitute your push-ups, hand claps, or jumping jacks with money. Ah… More complicated right? The second version of the scenario creates an idea in your mind that restricts you from quickly assessing what you are capable of doing to get the thing you need or want, which in this scenario is the water. However, the water can represent anything you desire or need.
When money becomes the focus and not what you can do, or the value of what you can do, things get harder. This is how the perceived value of money works. The other part of this mind trick is how you learn about the perceived value of money, and come to believe that it has more value than what you can do. We are taught that money has great value and that we have to learn how to be worthy enough to own it in abundance. When in actuality, the opposite is true.
Don’t Focus On Money
If you want to make more money faster, don’t focus on Money. Yet, focus on what you are capable of doing. Then give what you are capable of doing a higher value.
Quick story – Years ago I was a music producer/writer working with some up and coming artists newly signed to a major record label. I was an un-known at the time, and the record label was a little apprehensive about paying me the per-song producer fee rate I proposed. They felt my fee was too “high for a producer that wasn’t already on the charts”. I knew this was a negotiation tactic as they had already signed the artist based on future usage of songs I had already written and produced. However, instead of focusing on the money they didn’t want to pay me, I focused on providing more value than they had bargained for.
Allow me to explain; I knew the label also needed visuals for the artists they had signed as a standard part of the marketing roll-out. I also knew that creating visuals was one of my professional skill sets that they did not know about. So I offered to take on some of the visual work needed at a “lower rate”, to keep my producer fee the same. In short, they ended up paying my full proposed producer rate and also paying me to utilize my other skills sets and capabilities at whatever rate I set. Hold on! Before you take a big sigh. Yes, I know everyone reading this may not have the same skill sets to bargain with. However, my point is that you must focus on and give value to what you are capable of doing.
Don’t confuse what you are good at with what you like to do
When it comes to making money, a common mistake people make is pursuing what they like or love to do over what they are actually good at doing. Not to say these things can’t be one in the same. The problem that arises with this is it breaks a fundamental rule of the 3 rules of success. That rule is to 1. Be good at what you do. The other two rules – 2. Be on time, and 3. Be kind are pretty self explanatory.
However, people do attempt to side-step the first rule often. You need to be good at the thing you want to earn money for. You can not get around this part of the equation. Here’s why – The better you are at something, the less time it will take you to do it consistently well. When you can do something consistently well in a short amount of time, that gives you a winning edge.
Budget your Time
Budgeting money is often at the forefront of discussion when people think about ways to increase cash-flow. Budgeting time however takes an unfortunate back seat. In keeping with our above understanding of not focusing on Money but instead focusing on what you can do, budgeting time over money is the quintessential shift in perspective needed to make more money faster. To illustrate my point, lets think about a typical 9 to 5 work day; You spend 8 hours completing a set number of repetitive tasks for a set hourly rate which is usually substantially less than what its worth in the grand scheme of time.
In contrast, people who focus on what they are good at and budget time over money usually have multiple streams of income that only require minimal effort and time commitment on their part. Thus increasing their earning potential many times over.
Know your worth and ask for more
Once you make the shift to focusing on what you can do and effectively budgeting your time, it’s now time to increase your worth. This is an emotional mind game that you must master. It requires you to dismiss what you have been taught about the value of money. It requires you to understand that money in it self has no value, you do. Money is just a middleman between what you can do, and what you want and or need. Once you understand and are able to internalize this, making more money, faster instantly becomes an easier thing to do.
I hope this helps bring someone closer to achieving their goals of financial freedom! You can share this article and or leave your thoughts in the reply box below. Thank you for your time!