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Did you know that it's estimated that one out of every three
workers is an underearner and that most of them are women? Yet
despite the fact that this so widespread, it's hardly understood
and discussed even less. It's truly distressing that the wage
difference between men and women captures a lot of attention
while while the deeper rooted problem is in our own selves to
settle for so much less.
There was a cartoon published that showed a bunch of men
sitting around the conference table while you can see that one
of them is speaking to the rest. The caption read, "Gentlemen we
need to slash expenses in half, so we're replacing each of you
with a woman." What really makes this a sad picture is not the
fact that women are being offered half the salaray, what's
really sad is that men KNOW we'll accept the offer.
I know a lot of women who work all day long plus have several
projects going on outside of work, plus have a family they take
care of, plus have a hobby they do for fun, and yet they are
underearners because "why"? They have more than 24 hours in a
day it seems yet they think they don't have what it takes to
earn more. How much more can they do? Well the fact is they
don't need to do more, they need to take their present
enthusiasm and turn it into a full pocketbook.
My mother used to save foil. She also saved grocery bags,
newspapers, anything that could be used again to save money. I'm
not knocking it, I'm merely pointing out a frame of mind. "We
must do with less." "Money doesn't grow on trees." "Money is the
root of all evil." I loved it once when I heard Anthony Robbins
say, "Money is not the root of all evil. LACK of money is. Think
about it."
So how do you earn what you deserve? First you have to change
the frame of mind. It takes money to make money. In the old
frame of mind you might be thinking, "I don't have any money to
make money", but it's not true. I didn't say it takes a LOT of
money to make money. In the right frame of mind you should be
thinking something like, "How can I turn this 20.00 into
100.00?" To get in the right frame of mind, think positive
questions and you will get positive answers.
You would not believe the amount of emails I get from women who
are professing to be destitute. If they have internet access and
can email me, then they can make a wealthy living online. I
started my own company with only 59.00 and internet access. When
they write me I can see that they are already defeated and
nothing I write back is going to phase them because I don't have
enough time to clearly explain that the problem is not with
their finances but with their thinking. I've been there... in
the poor house. I "WON'T" work for minimum wage. I won't work
for someone else. Why do I care to make them rich? I don't.
How to stop being an underearner:
1. Change your frame of mind
2. Realize the value of your expertise no matter the subject
field
3. Demand what you are worth and stop underestimating your worth
4. Spend extra time becoming even more of an expert
5. Promote yourself
6. Stop taking what's handed out and start asking for what's
right
7. Don't be willing to work for free. If a project takes
overtime then get the overtime pay
8. Learn how to negotiate effectively
9. Do not live in financial chaos. Organize your finances
immediately to see where you are and where you need to go
10. Open yourself up to new possibilities and opportunities
If you are a constant underearner, wake up and smell the money!
About the author:
Rebecca Game has been an entrepreneur for over 30 years and is
the Founder of Digital Women®, an online community for women in
business providing business resources and tools including loans
for women, grants for women and business networking tools. You
can visit her site at Digital Women: "Women with their modems
running..."
http://www.digital-women.com
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