How To Make More Money Part 2

You know that feeling of not making enough money to cover the kind of lifestyle you would like?

Many of us feel like there’s too much month at the end of our paycheck and one of the most common things I hear about money is: “I wish I could make more.” The biggest challenge in making more money is not that the money is not there to be made, but that we cannot see where we could make money. In fact, right now, you are sitting on a fortune, you just don’t know it yet. What we need to do is to create a paradigm shift. Throughout this series of articles, I will offer you a number of paradigm shifts, so keep an eye out for them!

In How To Make More Money Part 1, we covered how to make money straight away from the gold that you’re already sitting on. Remember, one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure. Selling items and raising money immediately is a great short term tactic. But, we don’t want to be only tactical with our money mastery. We want to also start building strategies for a long-term financial success. After all, if you simply sell your belongings in a tactical way, you will soon run out of things to sell.

So, today, we’ll be talking about strategies for making more money. Strategies are the plans that will help you meet your financial goals. Paradigm shift #2: Don't just do more of the same thing you are doing now. Instead, let's restrategize. Remember, goals without plans and strategies are just dreams. Are you ready to stop dreaming and start strategizing? If your answer is yes, keep reading.

Before we move onto how to capture the opportunities to make more money, make sure to take the “What’s your money paradigm” test.

Now that you know what your money paradigm is, let’s roll our sleeves and start working for more income. Let’s work with where you already are. Follow these steps one at a time. Don’t just read through it, actually DO the exercises. Many of us feel emotional about money, which naturally engages the right emotional side of the brain. By writing things down, you engage the left thinking side of the brain. And when you engage the left brain, you begin to make changes.

Step 1: Do you already have some income? This is a simple yes or no question. Whether you do or don’t you’re already in a good position to start earning more. If you have a job, write down the job and the tasks within the job that you are responsible for. If you don’t have a job yet, write down the jobs you have held in the past and what tasks you were responsible for within those jobs.

Your lists could look like this: Jobs: cleaning lady, horse trainer, office clerk, administrative assistant, massage therapist, bartender. Responsibilities: cleaning and tidying, client care, filing, massage therapy, customer service.

Step 2: Take your lists of jobs and responsibilities from step one and start thinking laterally. Where else could you use the same skills? If you are already employed, is there a way for you to talk to your boss about getting some extra responsibilities and extra pay? If not, can you get a better paying job somewhere else with a company who would like you to take on extra responsibilities for extra pay?

Example 1: I like serving clients, and socializing with people. Is there a local catering service that I could do some casual bar work once per month and have fun doing it?

Example 2: I have been in this administrative job for 5 years and in that time I have learned how to edit videos for my own projects. My current company could use a promotional video of the product they are launching in a couple of months. Maybe I could ask them if they would like me to create a video for them and either get paid for it or get paid for the extra hours I’m putting in.

Step 3: Work hard. Be prepared to work a couple of extra hours per week/month to make the extra money. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty in doing whatever job you need to - on the short term - to re-establish your financial foundation. If you are not willing to make an extra effort initially, then you don’t have the right to complain about not making more money.

Step 4: Create a source of passive income. Passive income basically means that you make a product that you can sell over and over again. Another example of passive income is to build a service business, but unless someone is running the business for you, it won’t be passive. Here’s my top recommendation for passive income: Create a course on something that you are interested in and are good at. Many of my students have done this successfully and are now enjoying their passive income. Let me ask you this: What skills do you have that others would benefit from learning? What successes have you had in your life that others would love to learn from? Could you write a course on how to sleep better? Maybe how to manage stress or how to start saving. Maybe it’s about how to gain more confidence when riding a horse.. Write down a list of things that you are good at and you would love to see others be good at and start writing. If you want more information on how to create a course, check out “Create Your Course”.

Step 5: If your passive income plan has worked, you are now ready to start your own business, ditch the job and design your days completely to suit you. Building a solid business takes about 2-4 years, so you do need to be willing to think long term. Of course, not everyone will want to run their own business and that is completely OK. I will say, though, that if you continue to improve yourself and you keep learning new skills, you can, as step 5, begin to move up in the ladder of your job too. The more you learn, the more valuable you become to the business you work in. And if they don’t value you, someone else will. Life is too short for having a bad job that you hate. Thanks for working with me on this topic. Let’s take action together! Head on over to the Integrated Life by Merja Sumiloff Facebook group right now to start a conversation about YOUR money mastery!

Editing: Ursa Swensen Photos by Jesse Orrico and rawpixel on Unsplash