At jagoinvestor we have always been trying new stuff  and this time we are coming up with 5 article series on the topic of INCOME every Thursday. These articles will be inter connected and they will help you to work on any one specific area related to money, this time we are going to focus on increasing your income (I know that you are interested in this topic). Now, there is no formula available in the world or with us by which you can magically increase your income. But we strongly feel that by engaging with certain set of conversations you CAN increase your income.

This is the 1st article of the series where we are first going to look at why a lot of people struggle to increase their income. What is it that stops people to increase their income ? And then over the next few weeks, we will go deeper in this area and touch other points around increasing income. You may be into job or business the series will be helpful to you.

8 Core Reasons why  income level remains STAGNANT

Lets examine some of the key reasons or pointers which can help you to introspect in the area of income generation.

Reason #1 – Overfocus on Controlling Expenses and not ON increasing Income

You will always meet two kinds of people. There are people who focus on increasing their income and you will find people who are always busy controlling their expenses. Now, we want you to focus on increasing your income because increasing income is ALWAYS in your hands; whereas controlling expenses is not in your hands. For e.g. if tomorrow petrol or diesel prices touches Rs.100 per litre you can’t do anything about it. When we work with our clients one on one we always encourage them to work on increasing their income. We ask them to figure out ways by which they can work on increasing their income. Along with making investments it is extremely important to work on increasing your income.

Now, let’s assume that right now you are not exploring your full income potential and we invite you to inquire how you can explore your full income potential.

Reason #2 – They are HIT by “BUT” syndrome

I find a lot of people saying, “This year I was all set to get promotion BUT office politics got in my way” or “This time I was all set to get big business order BUT my competitor stole my order”. The three letter word “BUT” is a bit nasty by nature. The word BUT is a beholder, it beholds some kind of underlying truth in it.

The truth is, I am not promoted and the truth is, I did not get the business order I wanted. You may be in business or job, if your income is not increasing check whether you are hit by “BUT” syndrome or not? – Tell the truth and start taking required actions instead of swimming into the pool of reasons and thinking why you could not produce desired result. Every time when things don’t turn out the way you want, instead of finding reasons go deep inside your own self and get honest with yourself. People who struggle to increase their income are more in love with reasons than results and actions.

Reason #3 – Virus called “What’s in it for me?”

This virus simply corrupts you as a professional. The virus gets in your mind and it keeps you away from identifying opportunities where you can make a difference. If possible for 10 minutes every day keep the thought “what’s in it for me” aside and bring a lot of passion and love into any work that touches your hands.

I was once in a restaurant with Manish and he said something very interesting. He said, “Some waiters expect and work for getting tip (and they don’t get) whereas some really serve well and people appreciate their effort by offering tip to them”. Can you see the difference how your approach impacts your income?

Increasing income is not a function of greed or expectation . People who fail to increase their income are insanely affected by the virus “What’s in it for me”. You may say, but that’s the way the world works or it is practical to think about your personal interest. This attitude is the root cause of all your struggle. May be a lot of people are searching wealth on the wrong side of the river and so they struggle to increase their income all their life. Empty your mind for 10 minutes and focus and you will start to see many opportunities right in front of you.

Reason #4 – They don’t understand the word “Service”

The word literally trains you to become a go-getter. As a go-getter you get up every day with a thought, Today how can I get more money and from whom? In my view people who struggle to increase their income have yet not experienced the power of word “Service”. If you start operating from service you start to grow inside your profession or work. Every day look at how best you can be of service to your organization or to your team members or to your clients. If your relationship with word “service” is weak it fills your life with struggle and resignation.

Always remember – “When service is rendered, payment gets due”

Reason #5 – They don’t invest in their training and development

If you are useful, people will get ready to pay you for your services or offerings. To be more useful you have to constantly work on enhancing your skill set. There are very few people who invest in themselves. A lot of people wait for their company to sponsor for their training and development program. This is a wrong attitude and it wont help you to grow your income.

Do you keep some percentage of your income aside every year to invest in some skill development programs or not? You have to be really good at your craft for people to invest in you. Increasing income is all about asking and inviting people to invest in YOU for producing measurable results. When people or organizations stop investing in YOU, your income gets stagnant.

Reason #6 – They don’t have a mentor in life

In your professional life you need to find and make someone your hero. It has be someone who is living your dream; he or she is right now in a position where you desire to be in near future. Majority of people try to do everything on their own,they dont have a mentor in life. Now, there is no harm in doing things on your own but having a mentor helps.

You have to find someone who dreams big like you. If you are a writer your mentor will constantly help you to get better at writing. My fitness coach once told me that “Exercise without having a fitness coach is all warm up”. If your income is stagnant having a mentor in life will help you a lot.  In this week spend some time and energy, schedule a conversation with someone and invite someone to be your mentor. (If they charge be ready to pay them) . If you need a coach in your financial life, you can set up a call with us

Reason #7 – They Focus on ‘low paying’ activities

There are three kinds of activities you will engage with; high paying, low paying and no paying activities. Take out your calendar and make a note of what kind of activities you spend maximum time with. People who fail at increasing their income are not wise with their time.

I once gave an interesting assignment to one business person, I asked him to track his weekly time engagements, after a week he told me he was focusing more on no-paying and low paying activities. He made a commitment to focus his time only on high paying activities and his business income started to shift. You may be in job or business look at what kind of activities consumes your time. Be honest with yourself because where you invest your time matters when it comes to income generation.

Reason #8 – They fail at creating wow experience

I was once invited as a speaker by one Asset management company. I had to deliver a 25 minute talk to a group of financial advisors and planners. I asked the group “Where does wealth reside?”- I got variety of answers from the group which very interesting to hear. I finally told them that wealth resides in the very next conversation that they were going to  having after they leave the room. You may be into job or business we are all into conversation business and your only job is to leave people with wow experience. You may be in job or business make a commitment to create wow experience for people who come in touch with you.

People, who fail at increasing their income, fail to CREATE wow experience for others/people they work or collaborate with.  Your conversation has to fill the other person’s mind and heart with fresh and new energy. Not just with your boss or important clients but every person you meet from morning till night your only job is to create wow experience. For next few days examine what kind of experience you are leaving people with? Be Honest with yourself and see if you can bring some improvement in this area.

Upcoming article topics of “Increasing Income” series (Stay Tuned, Every THURSDAY)

• What is Income a reflection of ?
• Two different types of income
• Master key to increase your income
• Completion Article

Work on what best you can do to increase your income

This week take out some time and work on what best you can do to increase your income. Share your insights in the comments section, if you have got some success story, do share with us in the comments section. This week do a lot of introspection and figure out actions that can help you to increase your income. As I said in the start there is no formula to instantly increase your income.  Your sharing will make “Increasing Income” Series more alive and interactive and so we invite you to share your experiences in the comments section.