How to finally get paid what you deserve

Today I would like to follow up on the previous epsiode where we started talking about expectations. Now remember! Expectations is about letting people know what you intend to give them and agreeing in advance. This allows both sides to know what they are getting.

This week I'm going to be talking about 'Making your pay match your expectations'. I can just see it. A lot of you nodding your head to say I know what you mean. Tell me more. So settle down and listen up.

A few years ago I decided to make the move from staff or what some would call permanent employee to contracting or consulting. I was relatively young in the field but I was confident , brash and had worked for a few global businesses so that gave me the belief I could do anything.  I had also heard that a few other people had been earning big bucks in my field and I considered myself on par with these guys if not better so why shouldn't I be paid.

A couple of days after starting a new contract I had started to get frustrated with the talk coming from people around me saying I earn this and I earn that and I was determined that I would learn the secret or find out to get what I thought I deserved.

A few days after I started someone else who was I must say a lot older joined the team and I guess he liked me a lot and we got to talking. I then I asked him the question ..how do I get to become like the people that earn big bucks'. He took a long look at me and with the wisdom of someone who had been there, done that and got the T-shirt he said...Femi let the money chase you. I looked at him confused and he could see I didn't get it and he then said..focus on providing great service and the money will chase you. It made a lot of sense at the time but its only many years later with hindsight and the benefit of experience and the confidence that comes from knowing what I know can I say I get it.

Looking back at my overall experience at that particular job I realise I was so still inexperienced and its no wonder it ended with me leaving a bit earlier than I would have liked but it was certainly a bruising experience.

Here is a few lessons I want you to take away

1. DO NOT compare yourself with others like I did. You dont know the price they have paid, their experience, their journey and where they are going. It's good to know what is possible but dont use that as a barometer for yourself. I looked at these people and expected the same.
2. Focus on honing your craft and learning your skills. Treat every experience good or bad as building you up to the next phase. The reality is we all leave this earth - I hate to break it to you so we will do well to just enjoy the beautiful hustle or struggle. Each day is new and treat each task as an opportunity to learn and not an obligation or something anyone is making you do. Do this and you start to boss the situation
3. Back to my old friends advice. Treat all your customers (anyone you are providing a service) like you want to be treated. Listen, understand what they want, find out what good looks like and do your best to get as close to that. Keep doing that and your resume grows and one day you will be master of all you survey and the money will be chasing you.
4. Your resume is one of you biggest negotiation tools. You can see what I have done. You need what I know. Let's talk

I love this saying that it takes years to become an overnight success and the same should apply to us.

Trust the process is a popular saying in sports when you are putting in the work and not yet seeing the fruits of your hardwork.

So whatever you are doing focus on enjoying

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

So, hello, welcome to the You Unleashed podcast with Femi Akemi, the podcast where we explore how to unleash your potential in the workplace, your hustle, and life in general with practical, real-life scenarios and steps. Sometimes I'll use stories from my past, and trust me, I've got stories for you. And sometimes I'll just share stuff I've learned from myself and other people, and other times we'll just get people who know a lot more than I do, get them in the studio, we'll chop it all up, share it with you, and um, hopefully, you get something great from it that can get you unleashed in your hustle and your life generally. This is our second podcast, so I'm really continuing to look forward to the feedback you've got. I've become a believer that done is better than perfect, so let's get the show on the road and kind of get better as we go along. Oh, yeah, please don't forget to like the podcast, share it with your friends, and leave some feedback on the page. And without much further ado, let's just jump into it. So, last week I spoke a lot about expectation management, really, which is around expectation is letting people know what you intend to give them and agreeing in advance. And this allows both sides to know what they're getting, and there's no disappointment. So, if I tell you what I'm gonna give you, and you tell me you're happy what I'm gonna give you, when I give it to you, we both know what we've expected. And if I let you down, you can tell me, and I can't be offended, right? So, this week I'm gonna take it up a notch and talk about expectations, but on a slightly different level. And I'm gonna be talking about making your pay match your expectations, and you know what I mean when you get paid or someone pays you some money and it doesn't meet what you think you've done, you kind of get you're bummed up, right? You're you're you're disappointed. And I want to talk about that, and I can just see it. A lot of you are nodding and going, Yeah, I'm doing a lot of work where I work right now, and I'm not getting the pay I think I deserve. So, why don't we just get into this and settle down and just get a cup of coffee or make sure you're at a quiet place and take some notes and listen up. So, like I always do, I'll start with a story. A few years ago, I decided to make the move from staff or what some people will call a permanent employee to contracting or what some people call consulting. I was relatively young in the field, but I was confident, I was brush, I looked good. So that gave me the belief I could do anything and I could deliver on any task that I was given. And I'd also heard that a few other people I'd been working with or in my past were earning big bucks in the same field I was, and I considered myself on par with these guys, if not better. So, hey, why shouldn't I get paid? A couple of days after starting a new contract I'd managed to secure. I was starting to get frustrated because I was listening to people in the coffee machine talking about oh, I get paid this amount of money, I get paid that amount of money, and I've sat there thinking, How on earth are you getting paid that much when I know what I do and I know what I've done where I'm coming from, and really I should be better than you and getting more money than you. So I was starting to get frustrated thinking I wasn't getting what I deserved. Now, as fate would have it, a few days later, another guy joined the team. He was a lot older, but I guess he liked me a lot and he took me under his wing. So we got to talking. And when I finally found some time, I just asked him the question and I went, How do I get to become like the people who earned the big box? He took one look at me, and with the wisdom of someone who's been there, done that, got the t-shirt, he said, Femi, let the money chase you. Obviously, I looked at him confused, and he could see I didn't get it. And he said, Focus on providing great service and the money will chase you. Now, logically, it made a lot of sense at the time, but it's only many years later, with the benefit of hindsight and the benefit of experience and the confidence that comes from knowing what I know now in my field, and as a as a as a much more mature person, that I can say I actually get what he's talking about. Now, looking back on my overall experience at that particular job, I realized actually I was still so inexperienced, and it's no wonder that job ended with me leaving a bit earlier than I would have liked. I mean, it was a contract, and that's how those things kind of end, but it was a tough experience. I got I got I had to deal with a lot of tough people in the business, or as customers, and I couldn't handle it. So looking back, I probably couldn't afford the couldn't wasn't worth that money, if I've been honest. So here's my takeaway for you. I'll keep it short. Um, because I like to keep these things short. So here's a few lessons. Number one, don't compare yourself with other people like I did. You don't know the price these people have paid, you don't know their experience, you don't know their journey, you don't know where they're coming from, you don't know where they're going. So it's good to know what is possible as far as how much they're earning, but don't use that as a barometer for yourself. I looked at these people and I expected the same when we're not the same, we're on a different journey. That's number one, don't compare yourself with others. Number two, focus on honing your craft and learning your skills. Treat your experience good or bad as building you up to the next phase. The reality is, and this is I know it's it's it's kind of morbid, it's it's not what I want to talk about, but we're all gonna leave this beautiful earth one day. So, what we should just do is focus on enjoying the beautiful hustle or struggle. Each day is new, and treat each task as an opportunity to learn and not as an obligation. It's one of is one of the things Eric Thomas always says that I love he says treat everything as an opportunity and not an obligation because the moment you treat it as an opportunity, you boss the situation because you're looking at it as an opportunity to learn and grow, so that's what you need to do. Now, number three, back to my old friend's advice treat all your customers, and that's anyone you are providing a service, or anyone you're doing something for, like you want to be treated. It's the golden rule love each other like you want them to love you. Listen to your customer or the business or your cut your client, understand what they want, find out what good looks like, and do your best to get us close to that. Keep doing that, and your resume grows, and one day you'll be the master of all you survey, and the money will come chasing you. Your resume is actually one of your biggest negotiating tools. Your resume not being the piece of paper, which anyone can write what they want on, but your backstory, the things you've achieved. That's one of your biggest negotiating tools. So you can see what I've done, you know what I've done. Now let's talk money, pay me. I love this saying that I've heard from a few people, and it's kind of like it takes years to become an overnight success, and the same should apply to us, right? It will take years for us to become an overnight success. So people look at you and go, How come he's earning that much money? But they don't know the blood, sweat, and tears you've put in, the sacrifices, and that's what I'm encouraging you to do right now put in the work. So, whatever you're doing, focus on enjoying it, stay true to the game, don't cheat your clients, stay patient and focus on getting better every day. It's a pretty short one. I hope you enjoyed this episode of You Unleashed where we share ideas and um just discuss how you can rock it in your business place, your workplace, and in life. Don't forget to share and like our podcast with your friends and let us know what you think. We're not where we want to be, but we're definitely where we used to be. So we've made some progress. And like I always say, done is better than perfect. Episode 2 is in the books, and it's done. Get unleashed. Speak to you next week.