Great at what you do, but not getting paid what your worth?

Sometimes we can feel like although we love what we do, we are not getting paid what we are worth, or we can be completely off course from what are goals are. To get on course, it simply boils down to taking stock of where we are right now, seeing what we really want, and then recalibrating ourselves to create a life and business that will be fulfilling in this season of our lives. On Day 9 in my book , Look the Part to Get the Role, I help peel back the layers of what your role really is (or is not) so that you can become the celebrity of your business and life, and every day feel like you are living out a story that is true to who you really are and what you were meant to do on this earth. When an actor is developing his character in a production, his goal is to become the character. In order for that process to happen, the actor asks himself three questions to understand the mind of the character he is playing. The actors goal is to put all of their energy and effort into embodying the whole nature of the character to be believable to the audience. As the star of your business and life, ask yourself these questions to discover what it is that you, the character really wants for your role. #1 What does my character want? Where do you want to go in life, business, and relationships? Picture yourself as the character in your own life story. As you begin to answer this question, I want you to answer it from the place of what you actually want, not from the place of what is possible based on where you stand today. Often times based off of our fears, circumstances, and past failures we will “edit” our thoughts of what we actually want. If you aren’t sure how to uncover your purpose, here are some tips to help you get started: What do you do really well that you could become an expert in, leverage as another revenue stream, or specialize? For years, I had women come to me looking for physical change. That change may first be expressed in their desire for an image makeover, but actually the outward desire for change is a part of an inner conversation that’s triggering movement. To begin the conversation, I start with defining where they are going in their career and life and put them in touch with what’s on the horizon. I ask them “what is the thing you do that comes very natural to you that would be difficult for others?” Inside of their gift usually resides untapped opportunities that could bring additional revenue. Pay attention to what captivates you.

Check out the books you buy, magazines you read, and your favorite show. Observe what you find intriguing about someone else’s job. What blogs do you just have to read every day? What most excites you, or makes you really upset? Now ask yourself why? Reflect on past roles and experiences to get clues for your future. They say that the past leaves clues, so take a look at all of the experience you have racked up on jobs, volunteering, etc. to see if any thing from those experiences remains alive for you today. Sometimes even if you have moved on from a particular job, there might be one skill set you learned from that experience that can take on a life of its own or be re- fashioned into something great. #2 What could be getting in the way of what you actually want? Ask yourself what could stop you from achieving your goals or future roles. This is very important because once you are realistic with what could prevent you from moving forward, you can then create an action plan and system to counteract it from happening or have the plan to ad- dress the issue should it arise. #3 What tactics will I use to get what I want? What would it take to give myself a promotion? What does promotion in my life look life? When we work in one particular area for long periods of time, or for someone other than ourselves, it can be difficult to break out of the mold to see what’s possible if we played bigger. I often hear the frustration that comes from people who feel their work goes unappreciated, or they are not getting paid what they are worth. One of my first responses is how about promoting yourself? What would that look like? Promotion can come in all forms from gaining a new skill, creating a new program, or reinventing what you do and packaging it in such a way that you get a better return. The main point here is don’t wait for someone to recognize or give you anything, position yourself to have control over your destiny and begin to weigh what it would take to make it a reality. Beginning this thought process will allow you to take stock of what you truly want and see what’s possible. And guess what, you get to do it in the comfort of your own home, and on your own terms! You get to decide what you will do with the insights you discover in your answers and choose how you will move forward to truly live and flourish in your role.

The point is to choose!