Define Your Income
Whether you are just starting out or have been working for years, having a good mindset for money must include a clear picture of how you will earn money and defining how much you need to cover your living expenses. Of course, your living expenses need defining, as well. However, I will talk about that another day. And, as a caveat, I may repeat several things in various blog posts but only because I feel they are worth repeating!
Making money should not rule your life. If it does, especially due to unreasonable living expenses, you will be tempted to take unethical and illegal steps to get it. I do not want you to go there! There is a load on you, personally, to keep a stable home life when demands on your income are high.
I want you to succeed at earning an income. There are many ways to do it legally and happily. However, you need a plan. The alternative is to let others run your financial life.
Direct Me to the Money!
It is very important for you to attempt to do many things when you are young, or, at least, read about them. This will help you learn of your abilities, your mechanical understanding, your potential skills, and, especially, your interests.
There are ways to test yourself, online, to learn more about what might interest you and help you find subjects to read about. Test sites for interest assessments include: CareerOneStop.org, Myers-Briggs Personality Test, CareerQuiz.org, and CareerExplorer.com.
Spend some time reading in the library, looking online, looking at YouTube videos, and asking people about their jobs, what they do and for how much pay.
Income opportunities sound good for the experienced and educated workers. However, most careers start at a low wage and will increase based on skill improvements. If you like the career choice and want to learn, you have a better chance than many to progress in status and pay within your chosen career.
When Will I Get It?
Every career has some level of knowledge needed to succeed. Even a so-called simple job has some measure for success. Say you consider a person mowing your yard to have a simple job. However, they must know what plants to mow around and how to trim them without cutting into flower beds and damaging structures.
Their success depends on how well it looks to you after they leave. And that will not last if they forget to wash their mower decks and sharpen the blades regularly!
Careers that pay very well usually require a lot of education. You will need to do a “cost to benefit” review before you commit. Will you have to accumulate a lot of student loan debt to achieve that education? How much would the payment be when you start working? What are the opportunities for that career and how much will it pay? Can I live well and still pay off my debt? For how many years?
Perhaps, but not early in your working career, you might consider self-employment. However, you will need a well-thought-out plan to have the inspiration to make that a successful endeavor. A lot depends on your effort to gain the income you will need.
Remember: It is not how much I can borrow but how much I can keep that will determine how well you live.
For any job or career evaluation, there is a place where the benefit is worth the cost. If you can focus on trying to learn what you may need to know and take the time, you will benefit by knowing the sources to qualify you for your chosen career path. Then you can compare the cost of those sources and make a better decision. Even better, find someone working in that field and ask how they got there.
Maybe math is not your best subject. However, I am sure that if you devote at least two hours per week over six months, to researching your options, understanding yourself–your abilities and your potential, you will begin to sense where you would enjoy earning an income.
Any attempt to look at and act on the tests and reading related to finding your interests and potential career focus, as referenced earlier, will be time well-spent and could possibly save you years of aimless dissatisfaction with your work life and income potential.
As you study, think about the net effect of effort, education, and pay. Then, please allow your subconscious mind to think it over for a while. Before long, you will be inspired with what to do. You will get it!
Get a Job on Purpose
Based on your plan for the next five, ten, or twenty years, where do you want to be? What kind of house do you want to live in? What kind of car do you want to drive? Where do you want to live?
Without a plan nothing will change. Five years from now you will be about the same with no improvements in where you live and what you drive and what you wear. (That is a paraphrased quote from Jim Rohn, a well-known speaker, about advice he received from his mentor, Mr. Earl Shoaff.) Are you happy with that thought? If not, then, make changes!
Take the time, do the hard work of thinking about what you want to do, what kind of pay you desire. Write it down. It is simple, but not easy to do. I am being honest. You will get out of this exercise what you put into it. It will allow you to mark your progress over the years based on the steps you have taken to reach your goals, following your plan.
With that plan in mind, you can qualify your job options. The “get by” job only works for a short period of time. Then, you need to continue looking for your next opportunity. That may come with the same company or with a new company or to be your own boss.
The fact that a company exists as a separate entity from its employees should give you the perspective that you need to keep your options open. As an on-going concern, the company does NOT need you to exist. And it does NOT owe you a future with job security and regular pay increases!
Consider your options but keep food on the table. Look and work extra while you have a job. It is simple, but not easy. Look out for yourself but earn your pay.
Right or Wrong Decisions?
Time is the best test for right or wrong decisions. Sometimes you know right away, and you will scramble to make changes. Although, some changes, especially where you have built a life around a certain income level, can take a while to transition. Other situations may take a while to see, due to family dynamics, your health, or a host of other reasons.
I am a firm believer in doing regular reviews of both your decisions and your goals, which help to guide many of your decisions. I keep a journal, which is more than many people would do, just to help me consider my options.
Your financial life, your income life, and your career will not be a straight line, showing continuous improvement and a growing income. However, growth has a greater potential if you consciously try.
A Final Note
Careers are often referred to as jobs.
However, some jobs are worked by business owners.
Employees earn a wage.
Business owners earn profits but have the risk of capital (money invested) and need the business to succeed and be ongoing to keep earning.
Employees can always switch employers.
Another thought to add to your perspective.