Increase Your Learning to Increase Your Earning
I’ve held 25 jobs (that I remember). I’m 42 in order to give this story some context.
In my twenties, I held multiple trivial, mostly part-time jobs in order to make ends meet.
These jobs paid around $7.00 to $8.00 per hour.
Once, I had eight jobs in two years.
Essentially, I job hopped for twenty-five and fifty-cent raises which was a lot of money to me at the time.
I sold beanie babies, dietary supplements, pagers, cookies, toys, and shoes, as well as contracted as a substitute-assistant daycare teacher.
My personal research (job-hopping) in the marketplace revealed,
- I did not want to work multiple jobs,
- a job standing on my feet,
- or a job that required manual labor.
Between 18 to 20 jobs later, I discovered people who had some type of certification or college degree, normally sat at a desk. They usually made more money and appeared to exert less physical energy than unskilled or semiskilled workers.
So one day during my normal 2-hour commute to the $7 per hour daycare job consisting of a 10-minute walk before daybreak to the bus stop, two buses, and two trains but a 21-minute commute by car, I saw an advertisement for a travel school.
At that moment, I decided I needed a profession and not another dead-end job.
How I Escaped A Vicious Cycle of Dead-End Jobs?
So I enrolled in a 3-month program to become a Caribbean Destination Specialist.
And my plan prevailed.
Immediately after graduation, I secured a job as a reservation agent with a wholesale tour operator.
I sold vacation packages in my designated cubicle with a computer, a phone, and headphones.
The 3-month certification got me a $5 per hour pay raise plus commission. A far cry from twenty-five and fifty-cent raises.
Essentially, my hourly rate doubled in 3 months.
My hypothesis was correct. “People who had some type of certification or college degree normally sat at a desk. They usually made more money and appeared to exert less physical energy than unskilled or semiskilled workers.”
A major perk was the company sent agents on all-expense-paid trips, to gain first-hand knowledge of the product (flights, accommodations, restaurants, recreational activities, services, etc.).
Palm trees, white-sand beaches, turquoise waters, ziplining and taking mud baths in the rainforest, jet skis, boat rides, massages in spas, all-inclusive resorts, colorful cocktails with miniature umbrellas, international cuisine, and adult-only resorts.
For goodness sake, I was barely an adult when I got that job.
In addition, I purchased a champagne gold, 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix Coupe so I no longer had to take public transportation. Btw, I’m from Tuscaloosa, Alabama that car was a big deal.
The point of the matter is my life took a turn for the better.
Finally, I escaped a vicious cycle of dead-end jobs.
All because I improved my ability.
Improve Your Ability???
As you just read, I’ve paid my dues. 25 jobs worth of dues.
Now it’s my time to be a rich haute housewife living a leisure, lavish, luxury lifestyle with around-the-clock staff in four estates around the world.
But first, I have to start thinking like one.
So I did a thing.
I began a reading challenge (12 personal finance books in 121 days from May 2023 to August 2023) to raise my wealth consciousness. You can get the reading list here.
The most recent reads were two classics: Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. The third book is my new go-to personal finance book: Spirit Driven Success by Dani Johnson.
All three books support my market research.
Beginning with The Richest Man in Babylon, Clason states the 7th Cure For A Lean Purse is “Increase Thy Ability to Earn.”
Clason’s 7th Cure can be summed up in three points:
- Preceding accomplishment must be desire. You have to want it. I desperately wanted to stop acquiring dead-end jobs.
- The man who seeks to learn more about his craft shall be richly rewarded. Intentionally learn more about your profession and your earnings will increase. The wholesale tour operator that employed me knew this. Hence, the fam trips.
- Always do the affairs of man change and improve because keen-minded men seek greater skill that they may better serve those upon whose patronage they may depend. Ultimately seek to gain greater skills and knowledge to better serve your customers. I’m now realizing this.
“Skill” can be substituted for “ability.”
In other words, learn a skill, become great at it, and make a lot of money from it.
A wise woman once said no one wants to pay for a level 3 or a level 4 to decorate their home, manage their office, organize their closets, ghostwrite their books, sell their home, cut their hair, or file their taxes but they will pay for a level 8 or 10.
In other words, people are willing to pay a premium for your special knowledge or skill.
Increase Your Learning to Increase Your Earning
Similarly in Spirit Driven Success, Dani Johnson validates that “When you increase your ability, you profit more with that ability.”
In Chapter 5 of T&GR, Hill states The Fourth Step Toward Riches is Specialized Knowledge of service, merchandise, or profession. Hill explains it’s specialized knowledge that produces riches not general knowledge.
Furthermore, Napoleon Hill explains, in order for specialized knowledge to make money,
- it must be organized, and
- intentionally directed,
- through practical plans of action,
- to the definite end of accumulation of money.
In other words, your specialized knowledge requires a system. I’ve been attending a lot of webinars on creating streams of income. Each business has something in common — a sales funnel — that is organized, intentionally directed with an actionable plan to create money. Most businesses, if not all, begin with a lead magnet usually a webinar, then a sequence of emails, an offer with a sales page, then more emails. They have created a systemized method to accumulate money.
How To Improve Your Skills?
Dani suggests ways in her book you can improve your ability (aka skill):
- Get to work
- Get more education
- Learn from a master
- Gain more knowledge
- Gain more expertise
In addition, Tara Wagnar, a Belief Breakthrough coach recommends:
- Make a list of the skills that you require in order to improve your ability.
- Rate those skills on a level of 1 to 10.
- Then choose a skill that is a 7 or below that will have a significant, tangible effect on your life.
- Then look for resources (experts, mentors, books, podcasts, blogs, coaches, classes) to help you improve that skill.
- Determine 3 things that will help you level up that skill.
- Next, immediately put it into action.
- Remember, it’s okay to make mistakes. There is learning in the doing.
For example,
- Skills to improve: Writing (5), Speaking (5), Sales (5)
- A life-changing skill: Write better to grow and connect with my audience
- A helpful resource: self-improvement publications on Medium.com with editors
- 3 Things to level up: 1/find an effective writing style & structure 2/ learn how to write SEO, attention-grabbing titles 3/ be open to constructive feedback from editors
- Action Plan: Post two times per week (minimum)
How will you improve your ability?
So you don’t have to stroll back up, here’s the “Level Up Your Wealth Consciousness” reading list here.
Born To T.H.R.I.V.E. | It’s A Lifestyle
- Is F.E.A.R. holding you back from living your best life? Download 7 Practical Steps To Overcome F.E.A.R.
- Join me in “finding yourself”, and take a leap of faith to think, live and work differently.
- You’re invited to the AWAKENED REALM Facebook Group! My goal is for everyone I associate with is thriving, in abundance, and limitless. Taken from the character Kelli in Insecure.
- Print the iT.H.R.I.V.E. one-pager and keep it visible next to your bed or workspace for encouragement.
- International travel is a proven method to build confidence and conquer fear. Join the Dubai & Beyond or Ghana Crossover Trip.
