The Blunders That Prevent You From Making More Money
Simple life hacks to help you make more money than what you earn right now
For years I made the blunders of being too naïve and forgiving. This is the part of me I am unable to completely abandon yet want to feverishly disown. I am a gullible forgiver. I saw only emptiness and loneliness in the process but I did not know how to stop.
I have not been able to sustain friendships or gain opportunities because I have lost myself while forgiving and trusting others.
I especially remember my tryst with this one friend. I am serious about commitments. This means I arrive on time for appointments, social or official. In India where I come from, people like me are a joke. Most Indians follow the Indian standard time. I am not referring to the time zone but the tendency to be fluid about time. It is considered acceptable to show up late or even not at all to appointments. I am an aberration & misfit here.
Though I am a citizen of this otherwise amazing country I am unable to fully fathom why we Indians do this. We can blame it on the disorganized traffic that puts everyone ‘on the spot’. It could be that we take on more than we chew. I strongly suspect thought I don’t have proof, we arrive late to look important.
But I am digressing here. To come back to my friend.
She was, and I suspect still is, in the habit of showing up late or doing no shows.
I was in the habit of forgiving her, of which she has taken advantage. This went on until my forgiving nature pushed me to the brink and our friendship did a nose dive.
We don’t meet anymore but I know about her life. She is unhappy and earns lesser than her peers.
This is also the one thing we have in common.
For the past four decades of my life I have been underpaid and overworked.
Two years ago I had a breakdown. I had two choices- step into the abyss or turn my life around. I chose the latter.
And learnt two lessons from my past blunders.
Many of us develop these two human habits that impact our income.
Doing the no show.
Like my friend. Contrary to what we Indians believe, when we are late or fail to turn up we are frivolous and lack integrity. My friend with her no shows not only lost friendships like mine, but lost the patience & trust of people who could have made a difference to her life. She lost jobs, people and opportunities. The last I know, she was earning only a fraction of what she was capable of.
Most people who do a no show are merrily unaware of its negative impact on how much they earn.
How you do one thing is how you do everything.
My friend’s attitude to her social commitments was also her attitude to work. So, she failed to prosper. My attitude of forgiveness and trust spilled into other aspects of my life too. I’ve placed my trust in people and opportunities that did not show up for me. We neither of us were able to prosper because of our self-defeating behaviors.
Truth is, we cannot compartmentalize different aspects of our lives. How we do things in one area of life is how we do everything else.
Life hacks to overcome these behavioral blocks:
You can analyze your no shows. Are they because you take on more than you can chew? Maybe try limiting appointments to one a day. This way you get buffer time to be ready and show up on time.
The wheel of life has worked marvelously for me.
It can you with every aspect of your life. You can score yourself in every important area of life (10 indicates max score) so you can work on each.
Wake & sleep at the same time every day. This will help you plan your day better.
Give people a chance to prove themselves worthy of your time. Don’t trust in the first instance.
Keep your circle small & close in every area of life. Don’t give strangers an opportunity to deceive you.
Fill free time with activities so as not to be needy for people. This way you will not tilt the balance in favor of those who don’t value you.
When someone doesn’t show up once, don’t take it personally. At the same time, if they want another chance throw them a challenge so they get an opportunity to prove their integrity.
Practice ethics and integrity. These two values take you places, help you meet the right crowd, make opportunities seemingly fall in your lap and help you earn an exponential amount of money.
My friends, I write a newsletter Ethical Badass Tales where I talk about living a value- based life while embracing the human condition. If you like what you’ve read on Medium till date, please subscribe to my newsletter at https://theethicalbadass.substack.com/
