For starters, if you’re a woman, you’re probably making 20% less than the guy in the cubicle or office next to you. And guys, if you want to make more money, I’m all for that too!
Would you like a 20% raise? Do the math.
Take your last check and add 20% to it. If you make $400 a week, that’s an extra $80, every week. If you make $40,000 a year, it’s an extra $8,000 a year. At $100,000 a year it’s a whopping $20,000!
I’ve made each of those amounts in my career and I can tell you, whether it’s $80 a week or $20,000 a year, I would have loved it.
Equal pay for women has been an issue for a long time. Yes, it’s getting better, but 20% is a big gap. It’s a change-your-world gap.
You want to make more money. What do you do?
I’m devoted to transformation. You can’t have transformation by simply acknowledging a problem. You can’t have transformation by complaining about a problem. You can’t have transformation by being angry about a problem, although your anger may be a good catalyst to transformation.
Four Strategies for Transformation
I love teaching people how to ask for a raise, a promotion and simply increase their performance at work through what I call The Success Quotient or SQ4.
The Success Quotient has four components, hence SQ4.
1. Self-awareness
2. Self-empowerment
3. Other-awareness
4. Empowerment for all
Increasing my skills in these four areas took me from earning minimum wage to six-figures, as an employee, and has been my constant companion transitioning from employee to entrepreneur. All without a college degree.
It doesn’t matter where you are in your journey, how much money you make right now, if you want to ask for a raise, change jobs, start a business or expand your business. The SQ4 will help you get there.
Down and Dirty with SQ4
I could talk for hours on each of the four, and I do when I coach clients or speak to organizations, but for now, let me give you the down and dirty on each one.
1. Self-awareness – Knowing yourself comes first. You absolutely must evaluate your current strengths and weaknesses. Find ways to shine the spotlight on your strengths, and even improve them. This is your personal brilliance. Make sure you’re shining in these areas. For weaknesses, either find ways to make them irrelevant or learn how to improve. One caveat about that, many of our weaknesses are a waste of time to improve. It’s a lot easier to improve a strength than to improve a weakness.
2. Self-empowerment – Take your strengths and empower yourself in how you express them. How do you do that? Locate areas where you self-sabotage. We all do it. There’s no shame in it. But let’s stop. You lose your power when you think you need someone or something outside of you to get you where you want to go. You have everything you need. (This is why I created my online program, Enough Already. If you struggle with this, I’d check it out here.)
3. Other-awareness – This is your ability to accurately perceive what others are feeling and experiencing. This is where the super power of empathy comes into play. People who are self-aware, self-empowered and have empathy can change the world!
4. Empowerment for all – This is where it all comes together. You know yourself, you’re empowered to act, you understand and have empathy for others, which allows them to be empowered. Yes, sometimes that means they are empowered to step down, or change their behavior. It also means others are empowered to give you a raise or opportunity!
I am passionate about helping others use SQ4 in their lives. If you like the concepts and aren’t sure you know how to apply them in your specific situation, I’d love to hear from you! Let me know in your comments below, Facebook PM me or email me. I’d love to coach you or your organization into the power and freedom that come with using SQ4!