Six Simple Skills Anyone Can Learn to Increase Their Income
The wide variety of things people do to make money may seem like they are fundamentally different from each other, like different colors in a rainbow, but the truth is, there are a ton of similarities between the two.
This post was originally published on The Simple Dollar .
In fact, there are six skills that just about anyone can use to increase their earning potential at work. No matter what your job, if you apply these six skills in the workplace, you will set yourself up for a higher salary in the future.
Negotiation skills
A person with good negotiation skills is able to simply go to their boss (or their clients), present their work in a positive way, and effectively ask for a promotion or a higher pay rate (or other perks).
Many people don’t do this for a number of reasons. First, they are afraid of conversation. This conversation with their boss seems intimidating, and they see unrealistic negative results. No boss will fire you because you are asking for a promotion; they may say no, but they don’t fire or scold anyone for standing up for their case. Second, if they have the courage to do so, they will not present their arguments well. They just don’t have a compelling reason to be promoted, which means that they have some characteristics that set them apart from the occasional new employee. Third, they easily accept the answer “no” and do not negotiate. Often, “no” is just a starting point.
Developing this skill will help you get more pay for the job you do now and a higher starting pay for the next job you have. You can start building it by reading a few key books on negotiation – I recommend Prejudice by Robert Cialdini and How to Achieve Yes: Negotiating a No-Concession Agreement by Roger Fisher and William Urie.
Then practice using these skills in less important situations. Find any situations in your life where you are negotiating with someone or trying to convince someone to do something, and then use the techniques in this book. When you get a little practice, use them at the negotiating table to get your paycheck.
Courage to speak
In many work situations, the overwhelming response from employees is simply to say nothing about inefficiencies and problems in the workplace. Just hold your nose, do your job, don’t talk about problems, and most importantly, don’t volunteer in anything .
Believe it or not, this is actually the perfect way to make sure you never make a dime and never get promoted. This will ensure that you go unnoticed and that the invisible person does not get promoted. They don’t get promoted. When it comes to watches, they often fail.
Even at the most basic level of work, the courage to speak up is vital, and it becomes even more important as you work your way up the chain.
Remember, of course, that there is a difference between revelation and constant complaint. Here’s an easy way to tell the difference. Complaining is about doing you good – a complaint about a situation that complicates your situation a little, but may be beneficial to others. The presentation is aimed at benefiting the business – it is the observation of a situation that can cost the business money or can improve the efficiency of the business. Complain only as a last resort ; only speak when it is clearly helpful.
It takes courage to speak up, especially when it might mean more work for you in the short term, but it is this courage that dramatically increases your value as an employee.
Time management
No matter what you do, there are aspects of time management. Knowing how to use your time wisely so that you can do all the necessary tasks well in your allotted time is something that’s rewarding no matter what you’re doing.
Time management allows you to get all your business done with no extra work (often unpaid time). Time management allows you to do a little more to stand out (or build good relationships with colleagues). Good time management reduces stress from work, allowing you to focus better and also feel calmer and more in control.
There are many simple time management systems. Most of these tend to be variations on a standard to-do list, where you just write down the tasks to complete, add new ones when they come to your mind or are given to you, and then just focus on the top. task on the list and complete it as efficiently as possible. For people with many appointments and the like, a combination of a calendar and a to-do list works best, with items on the to-do list filling in the gaps between calendar events. A pocket notebook and pen will do just fine for most entry-level jobs.
As your work gets more demanding and you have more varied tasks, a good to-do list app for your phone that syncs with your computer can be really helpful. I really like Todoist in terms of the “drowning dollar” to-do list app (I use Omnifocus , but I don’t think the price difference is worth it — OmniFocus is better, but not much better), and I absolutely love Google Calendar .
As far as time management books worth reading, I do recommend David Allen’s How To Do It All (which I reviewed in great detail ) and Cal Newport’s Deep Work .
Work ethic
Even if you have the world’s best time management skills, you still need to combine them with the ability to achieve your goals . This means that you should be able to simply turn to the current task and take care of it, and then do it over and over again. It’s a work ethic, and it’s probably the most precious thing you can have in the workplace. It will make you a very valuable employee (making it much easier to negotiate a raise or promotion), and it is also what you need to be able to take advantage of more complex opportunities.
How do you build a work ethic? I think that for a lot of people, one of the key ingredients associated with work ethics is focus (I think most people with more serious work ethics issues probably don’t read something called Simple Dollar to improve their finance or career). Most people are willing to work, but many find it difficult to focus on their task. They are distracted by everything: from the phone to colleagues and conversations, dreams and everything that is happening on the street at the moment.
So how can you improve your concentration? The most effective strategy is to minimize distractions. Close the door and sometimes put up a Do Not Disturb sign. Turn off your mobile phone, close your web browser and e-mail program. Close the blinds if possible. Make sure that there is almost nothing in your area except you and your task.
Another thing that I find incredibly helpful when it comes to concentration is mindfulness meditation. Basically, it’s the equivalent of going to the gym, except you train your mental muscles, which you use when you focus. It’s really easy to do and it only takes five minutes, although in reality the benefits only start to show if you do it daily (or multiple times a day). Just sit in a comfortable place, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. When you do this, your mind will wander, and that’s okay. Just notice that your mind is wandering and then bring it back to your breath. Every time you notice this and draw attention to your breathing again, you are, in effect, flexing your mental muscles, and it works like a champion . It helps me stay calm, helps me stay focused on the task at hand, and helps me deal with feelings of depression. I cannot recommend doing this highly enough.
Another key aspect of a work ethic is a simple commitment to work. The main thing to always remember is that someone is paying you for the work you do, and if you want to be paid more for that work, you have to produce more than the other guy. You have to produce more than someone on the street. Because, whether you like it or not, on some level your employer views you that way. You are exchanging money for some kind of product, and if someone else can produce the same amount for less money, or can produce more for the same money, it will be difficult for you to justify it. Put yourself in their shoes – would you rather hire a guy who can produce three things a day for a $ 100 salary, or a guy who can produce four? If you want this boost, you have to work on it. Don’t be relaxed at work. Prepare your mind to focus on the task at hand. Get down to business.
Positive communication
By positive interaction, I simply mean establishing relationships with other employees that are purely positive, which means they do not revolve around building negative feelings or negative relationships with others.
In fact, no matter what you do, you will never love everyone and you will never love everyone. It’s just the reality of life. The question is not how you feel or how others feel about you, but how you represent those feelings.
The reality is that very few people want relationships with people who constantly express negativity. In some workplaces, you may come across a person or two with a large chip on their shoulder. You may even find that these people have a tight circle around them, a few sycophants who agree and support the negative person. But really? You don’t want them to be around. Others do not need them. Often, if they have no special claims to power, their days are numbered.
Instead, the person most people want to work with is the person who is friendly and positive towards everyone. This does not mean overly fun; it means acknowledging others, listening to others, offering useful ideas and feedback when asked, engaging in conversations, and never giving negative criticism unless it is in private.
Let me give you an example. I once worked with a man who would never, never say a bad word about you in front of others. You will never hear him speak negatively of another person, whether that person is present or not. The only time he ever uttered something critical was one-on-one or by email, and it was usually delivered side-by-side with positive things and in a way that was obviously intended to improve your situation.
This guy looked very ordinary. He didn’t always speak well. He was a little overweight and had serious botanical interests. But everyone loved him. Everyone appreciated his advice. Basically, he had a job for life and was often rewarded with pay increases and no one objected .
This was because he was incredibly good at making contacts. He made an effort to build positive two-way relationships with everyone in the office, and he simply avoided criticism. If someone approached him and criticized someone else, he usually just didn’t say anything, or he would gently point out something positive about that person, or redirect the complaint to an actual boss. If you just wanted to talk about something, he was almost always open to it. If you asked for feedback on anything, he would dig deep to find something positive to say combined with criticism if he felt the need to criticize.
I have sometimes worked with people who behaved this way at work, and each time it was a real pleasure to work with them. Each time, these people were rewarded with stable jobs, promotions and promotions.
Be that person. Never deal with negativity in the workplace. If you need to criticize someone, do it in private and accept what they do well. Try to establish a positive relationship with everyone. If someone else is negative in the conversation, don’t engage in the negative.
Leadership
This is the last skill you can practice in the workplace that will help you increase your income, and perhaps the most important one. Leadership simply means being the person who comes to the rescue when a group of people needs something. It means being a person willing to propose a plan or to act on behalf of a group of people.
This does not mean being a manager. In fact, very often the best kind of leadership does not come from the manager.
Think about your workplace. Think about the person you reach out to when a problem or challenge arises, or if you need help putting together a plan. Think of the person everyone is looking at when there is a workplace problem or a big project. This person is a leader. Why is this person a leader? This person comes up with a plan. This person is the one who walks around, finds out the consensus and speaks it out.
In short, leadership is essentially a combination of the other skills presented here. A good leader is an active participant in the network and has good relationships with everyone. A good leader is not afraid to speak up. A good leader knows how to manage his time. A good leader has a good work ethic. A good leader knows how to negotiate. If you combine all of these traits in one person, you get a person who will naturally become a leader.
If you want to start trying to focus on leadership, I suggest starting with Simon Sinek’s book, Getting Started With Why , which itself is based onSinek’s amazing TED talk based on the same topic you can watch. is free.
Final thoughts
As I said in the section on leadership, all of these elements are quite interrelated. All six behaviors reinforce each other. Time management reinforces work ethics and vice versa. Positive communication tends to directly influence leadership. Negotiation skills tend to be directly related to courage to speak up as you burn out your fear of hearing “no.” All of these skills help each other.
More importantly, they all work together to support you . They make you a more loved and valued employee wherever you work. They transform you into a person who is not only more productive, but also increases the productivity of others. They transform you into a person who leans towards difficulties, rather than shirks them.
These are the qualities that every company in the world is looking for, and they will pay for them. Practice these skills and develop them. Make them part of your natural workplace behavior. The awards will follow, no matter what your job is.
Good luck!
Six Simple Skills Anyone Can Learn to Improve Their Earning Potential at Work | Simple dollar