How to Make the Money You Deserve Without Selling Out

Image courtesy of frankie_8 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of frankie_8 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This post first appeared at Forbes.com.

Recently, I led a career coaching workshop for four incredibly accomplished women at Harvard. They were worried about finding careers and making their way in work and life as they headed towards graduation. Specifically, they wanted to be able to “make money without selling out.” And they’re not the only ones saying this — I hear this more than ever today in an environment that praises do-gooder creatives and laments bureaucrats and bankers.

Want to make money without selling out? Here are the steps to make it happen:

  1. Recognize your own true value. The first step is to understand your own self-worth. What makes YOU valuable? This runs counter to what we’ve been taught — asking ourselves how we can be valuable to others and serve others’ needs. Instead, answer the question: how can you serve your purpose in the world? Everything is about creating value for people, and the first step is recognizing your own value and your own willingness to be heard and watch yourself shine. What does this really look like for you? You have a skill, an area of expertise. You’re not selling out by asking for more or doing more.
  2. Stop listening to everyone else. Sometimes, listening to everyone keeps you mediocre. Universities tend to promote a traditional career path because it makes them look good and keeps their alumni database of full-time careers high. They keep students so busy in classes and exams that there is little space to truly discover what they want to do in their life. Think about what makes you so excited that you can barely stand it — then, go DO that.
  3. Don’t worry about what others have; start with what you need. Only you declare what you want and what you need. I won’t have extravagant dinner with my banker friends, but I will invite them for to my place for tea instead. Make your own choices on what you need. For financial issues in particular, I use Mint and LearnVest and my own budget to manage my timelines and make sure I’m not compromising my financial needs.
  4. Make good use of your energy, not your time. I don’t believe in managing time, I believe in managing energy. Time is a constant. Don’t waste your energy when you can’t afford to. People love free resources, so give when you can and be honest when you can’t. Sometimes, saying “no” is actually part of serving both someone else and yourself.
  5. Realize that ”selling out” is a BS term. Remember, only you determine if you’re “selling out” or not; no one else can determine that for you. I believe the better word to use is “serving” — when you are giving your resources to the world in ways that are valuable and supportive to others. Just focus on serving and staying true to who you are!

Breaking up is part of leading

Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Breaking up is never easy, with a friend, colleague, partner, project, or company. You lose a part of you that became a new shared story with another person, whether it be a love relationship, a new business venture, a project team at your company or a long-time friendship. But breaking up isn't just about a relationship with another person, it’s a breakup with how you see yourself in the world.

The hard truth is that stepping into leadership is also about breaking up many times over and over. Its about breaking up with your old patterns of behavior, shedding relationships that don’t serve your new self, and making anew with the values and goals that you have.

So here’s my two cents on breaking up:

1)   Trust your gut: Your reactions and how you feel will play a major role in when you know you need to break up. Don’t hide it, make it noticeable to yourself.

2)   See it as a learning experience: Remember, everything is about learning and what you take from it. Don’t harp on the past, focused on what your key lessons are for the future.

3)   Stand up for yourself: Don’t let anyone take advantage of you. Be confident about what you feel and use this as a powerful agent to grow.

4)   Let yourself move through the feelings: There will be negative feelings in any breakup and there is will be freeing feelings, but the truth is you’ll move much faster through the challenges and pain when you address rather than ignore them.

5)   Move through fear: Remember you can move through fear of the new, but don’t let fear shape you or change you.

Do you have a breaking up story that led you to step into your leadership? Share more with us and let us know what it led to.

Wanna go from irregular blogger to tribe leader? 10 Easy Ways to Make it Happen

In my last two posts, I've talked about how to become a writing genius and how to get organized about your writing. Yet we all know writing is only as important as its contribution to others. How can your writing have positive impact on others? How do you convert your writing into a faithful following– and build a movement around what you want to share or teach?

As a writer myself, I believe that Facebook “Likes” and Twitter retweets don’t do much for the people I am most passionate about reaching. Digital natives who understand social media know that there are much more complex and diverse strategies out there that can help any writer convert their writing into their tribe.

Here are my 10 tips to convert your writing into your tribe.

1) Answer these questions for yourself:

  • What is your brand?
  • What are your messages?
  • What do you believe in?
  • Who is your audience and what do you stand for?

These answers are the backbone of your writing strategy. They shape who you spend time writing for, the topics you share, and where you share your writing.

2) Once you decided on your brand,

start a website.

Your website houses your content. It should answer the questions:

  • Who am I?
  • How you can join me?
  • What am I doing?
  • Why am I so important?

3) Use your channels to increase the

presence of your work.

Use search engine visibility and your presence on major platforms and networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc) to share your work.

4) Use Twitter to connect with

like-minded individuals.

Follow the content of leaders who you align with. Make twitter lists of people whose writing you like and share their work. Retweet and share your writing with those you admire.

5) Make sure to use Google Analytics!

Keep track of what people are sharing and engaging with. Sometimes a hot headline can make a big difference.

6) Use video.

Hands down? Visual communication is golden—it’s a great way for people to understand who you really are and what you’re all about. Share a video on your website about who you are and what you’re writing about. Don't worry–I'm launching some Bollywood videos soon 🙂 

7) Create an email marketing

list.

Collect email addresses at every chance you get. Use sites like StreamSend, MyEmma, Mailchimp, or Constant Contact. My fav? Mailchimp! You'll find more about its wonders by signing up to my Generational Alchemy Library on the right hand side here. 

9) Add Google Alerts

Set up a Google Alert for hot topics you want to follow. And google alert your name! You’ll never know otherwise where it might show up.

10) Set up your own office hours

Office hours are a great way to set aside dedicated time to connect with others professionally.  Make intentional dates for on conversations with people about your writing and try ohours.com

A version of this post first appeared at Levo League.