Overcoming Underearning(TM)

A Simple Guide to a Richer Life

Barbara Stanny

• Publisher: Harper Business
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9780060818623
• eBook ISBN: 9780061856662
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Accounting

SECTION ONE

Getting Started

“Man’s main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is.”

—Erich Fromm

“If we did all the things we’re capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.”

—Thomas Edison

ONE

Laying the Groundwork

“Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

—George Bernard Shaw

SOMEDAY IS NOW

How often have you found yourself thinking, “I wish I made more money?” Only to add with a sigh, “Someday…maybe someday…”

Guess what? There is no someday. This is it! This is the day to start turning your vague desire into a deep-seated commitment. This is the day to shift from building castles in the air to laying a solid foundation. This is the day you will start breaking through your barriers and bolster your earnings.

---

“Your aspirations are your possibilities.”

—Samuel Johnson

---

THE SPILL-OVER EFFECT

It would be wonderful if, upon reading this book, you went straight into making six figures. And that may happen. Or not. Some of you may already be making six figures and still be underearning. I see it all the time—people who are professionally successful, yet financially strapped. Earning six figures is not a sure sign you’ve reached your earning potential. Nor is it the intent of this book. The real purpose is to help you achieve financial independence.

---

Financial Independence

You have the resources to live a satisfying, comfortable life, accomplish your dreams and goals, and have more fun doing what you do.

---

Life as an underearner is not a lot of fun. Being underpaid is frustrating, at best, and often debilitating. Underearning limits your choices, your freedom, your peace of mind, and your quality of life.

Maybe you can’t make six figures, at least not right away. But you can make more than you’re making now. And you can do it without selling your soul, no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. And it won’t be just your bank account that benefits. In these pages you will meet people who ended up with far more than material wealth.

“My whole life has changed substantially,” massage therapist Cheri Schell declared during our follow-up interview.

Within six months after taking the Overcoming Underearning™ workshop, she had increased her income by 20 percent, cut her hours “way back,” lost twenty-three pounds, stopped using credit cards, started saving, moved to a nicer office, redecorated her home, saw her marriage improve, and had more time to herself.

“I’m making more, working less, feeling healthier, have more energy, and I’m so much happier.”

---

“Desire is the starting point of all achievement…”

—Napoleon Hill

---

Cheri was not an exception. I was amazed how many reported significant changes in all areas of their lives. Aside from increased income, the most common “side effects” of the workshop were—in this order—significant weight loss, better financial habits, more leisure time, improved health, increased optimism, and enhanced relationships.

YOUR TURN

This whole process begins with one simple question: What do you want? At this point in my workshops, I always ask participants to think about why they came, what they wish to achieve. I’d like you to do the same. Take a moment to think about what you hope to accomplish from using this book. What drew you to it? Here are some examples of what other people have described as their goals:

• 
  Stop using credit cards.
• 
  Get out of debt.
• 
  Clarify my vision.
• 
  Make more money without losing myself.
• 
  Find out what’s stopping me.
• 
  Get over feeling “I’m too old.”
• 
  Take myself more seriously.
• 
  In my business, I want to see black instead of red.
• 
  Start saving for retirement.
• 
  Quit my job.
• 
  Overcome my fear.
• 
  Earn really big money.

BECOMING A GOAL GETTER

When you set goals, you are making things happen by focusing your attention, determining your choices, shaping outcomes, and attracting opportunities to fulfill those objectives. “Inherent in every desire is the mechanics for its fulfillment,” author and physician Deepak Chopra tells us. The clearer you are about what you want, the greater your chances are to achieve it. If you write your goals down, they are more likely to happen than if they’re just stored in your head.

For some, setting goals is a piece of cake. For others, it’s a major source of indigestion. Few underearners, especially women, ever ask themselves: What do I want? And when they do, they often have a very tough time coming up with an answer.

That’s usually because they’re too busy worrying about what everyone else wants. And if they do acknowledge their own needs, they often dismiss them as selfish, silly, or even too grandiose.

---

Write Your Goals Here

---

Most of us fail to realize that self-denial, while seemingly virtuous, can lead to anger, resentment, pain, and sometimes illness. Not exactly conducive for monetary, or any other, success.

So, in the box above, write down everything you wish to occur from reading this book, no matter how ridiculous, outrageous, unreasonable, or even mundane it may seem. The following exercise may give you some additional insight.

---

Exercise: Six Months to Live

This can be a very eye-opening exercise. In fact, it was after doing this very exercise that I decided to become a writer. Before you answer the questions, get very quiet, close your eyes, and imagine this scene: the doctor has just told you that you only have six months to live. Take time to absorb the fact that your time on earth is limited, to visualize exactly how you’d want to spend those last few days.

If you knew you had six months to live,
What would you be doing?

Where would you be living?

Who would you be with?

What would you change? What would you add? What would you eliminate?

Why don’t you start right now, living as if you only had six months left? The truth is, all of us have only a limited time on this planet. The purpose of this exercise is to encourage you to live that life to the fullest.

---

If you still can’t think of anything, make something up. You can always go back and change it.

---

“Make your plans as fantastic as you like, because twenty-five years from now they will seem mediocre. You will wonder why you didn’t make them 50 times as great.”

—Henry Curtis

---

Share what you’ve written with at least one other person who will be supportive. Sure, telling people your goals takes guts, but it’s worth it. A written goal that is also spoken has an even greater likelihood of being achieved. Besides, declaring what you want is mandatory for higher earnings, so consider this good practice.

---

My Goals for You

I had five particular goals in mind when I wrote this book, five outcomes I hope to help you achieve. I want to:

1. CHANGE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEY. It can be life altering when you start viewing your financial issues not as a source of shame, but as a tool for personal growth, a doorway to new possibilities.
2. EXPLORE YOUR BLOCKS AND BARRIERS TO SUCCESS. This can only happen if you do the exercises thoughtfully and reflectively.
3. INSPIRE YOU TO THINK BIGGER. It’s time to replace a bake-sale mentality with a grander vision about how much you can make and how much more you can be. As writer Marianne Williamson says, “Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.”
4. KEEP YOU ON THE PATH. Goals are not attainable all at once. There will be barriers, dead ends, and frustrating periods when it seems as if nothing is happening. My goal is to make sure you stay on course.
5. ENCOURAGE YOU TO SHARE WHAT YOU LEARN. Not only can you he...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• A Parable
• Introduction: Finding Freedom
• Section 1: GETTING STARTED
• Section 2: TAKING THE STEPS
• Section 3: ENSURING SUCCESS
• Appendix
• Searchable Terms
• About the Author
• Copyright
• About the Publisher