Healthy Roots
Some of us were fortunate to be raised in a positive, successful-minded household. I cannot say that I was since my folks both worked hard but barely got by.
However, my dad aspired for success, including episodes of raising chinchillas for fur and worms for fishermen. At the end of his life, he was partnering with a friend to raise catfish to sell to restaurants. He was under-capitalized, so the volume was not worth the effort.
My mom was an RN, which has respect in the medical field, and she eventually became a charge-nurse. That was a different time, and pay was nothing like it is today.
Perhaps that background gave me some courage to try different adventures in self-employment.
Building Self-Esteem
I was active in high school and made a lot of friends, though my grades and athletic achievements were very modest.
The fact that I was the first in my family to go to college may have given me the incentive to finish, which I did, though my grades were not a bright spot on my resume for job applications. I worked part-time most of my time in college.
In other words, I had a lot of self-doubt about my abilities and capabilities. My self-esteem was low.
I suppose that made me more sensitive to how I might change my hopes for the future. Then, I was introduced to the relevance of attitude.
I found that when I worked on my attitude, I raised the view of what I might be able to do.
By trying to add skills, I could do more, which led to being more positive and having a better attitude about each day.
Do More Than You Get Paid to Do
Since my goal is to help you build a better mindset for money, I especially want you to build a good attitude about earning income.
An attitude can be either good or bad. The results that follow depend on which attitude you choose to develop.
A good attitude to start with as you find employment is “do more than you get paid for doing”, which is a quote from Jim Rohn. This can manifest itself in a couple ways. First, do more than what your job description requires. Second, arrive early and stay late. Can you see how this might get the attention of your boss which will help when raises and promotions are allowed?
Drain Hope with Complaints
You cannot control your work environment, which is greatly affected by the management practices. Being inconsistent and indecisive are the normal reasons for a bad work environment. But, until you become the manager, the policy maker, then, you must live with the way things are.
I know that sounds discouraging. And, the truth is that a verbal complaint will have little effect, unless you offer a solution. In fact, being known as a complainer will be viewed as you being part of the problem by management.
Then, imagine how much hope you will have for a raise, let alone a promotion.
Raise Your Bar and Hope for the Future
Not every company is good to work for. Some have better incentives for advancement. Some pay very well with a stressful environment. Some low stress workplaces do not pay well. You have choices.
As you try to assess your current work situation, I want you to consider your long-term goals and your potential career choice improvements.
To make a good assessment you will need useful information. As an employee, I suggest you question your choice of jobs. Does it pay like you want? Do you enjoy the work? A “No” to either of these questions raises a need for further research.
Reading about career options will open your mind up to things you never allowed yourself to consider. And, before you decide to apply for work outside of your resume list of experiences, I want you to pause long enough to read about the skills a new career option will require.
Then, you need to learn all you can about how to obtain the skills you do not currently possess or practice.
Make observations of others in that field. Read about successful examples.
Manage Time for Priorities
If you are not married or without children, then you will have more time available than most for study, reading, and research. However, you may not have the incentive that those with responsibilities beyond themselves would have.
Those with that kind of responsibility must learn how to make the time to fulfill that effort to learn. Of course, the sacrifice of some personal enjoyment will be part of the cost, as they invest in their future financial success, which will come from increased income opportunities.
Save for Options
With a better mindset for money than most, you will see the value of saving with each paycheck and saving more with raises over time.
A good savings plan and practice will open many opportunities for career options and growth. If you can develop a good work attitude, you can develop a good learning attitude. Continuous learning is a process that can help you add skills and knowledge for an increasing amount of recognition at work and build a reservoir of knowledge to succeed if you decide to explore self-employment.
Time and money are needed for classes, seminars, and other learning options. They can cost more than you will benefit in the short term. So, long-term thinking will help your attitude in your pursuit of knowledge.
Build an Incentive
We all work better when we can see the prize we are seeking. We are willing to pay the price for the benefit we can visualize.
That is an attitude, based on the experiences of others and human nature. Even a mule pulls a wagon better with a carrot dangling in front of him.
You can accept where you are in your work life. Or you can learn how to dream of a bigger opportunity or a more enjoyable way to make a living.
Dreaming of possibilities raises our hope and raises the bar of our expectations for ourselves and our financial future.
Start a list of at least ten possible goals. Given time, I am sure you can increase that to fifty options. Many of those goals will seem more doable than others. But all are possible if you take the time to detail how to get there and add those steps to your daily planning.
Zig Ziglar was quoted as saying, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.” So, make a habit of planning your day. You will achieve much more than you thought possible.
Staying positive is an attitude.
Pay attention to what attitude helps others be successful and work on that.
Do your part to build a better mindset for money and the attitude needed to become successful!