Sheconomics - Are you an under-earner?

Add power to your purse with the ultimate money makeover: Sheconomics

are you an under-earner?

When it comes to asking for a payrise do you shy away or convince yourself you don't deserve it? Do you feel proud that you can manage on less than money than most?

Answer the 10 questions below to find out if you're an under-earner (adapted from Barbara Stanny’s book Overcoming Underearning).

See below to find out what your score means.

Question 1.
Do you avoid facing the challenge of asking for a payrise or increasing your rates?

Question 2.
Do you work very hard for little money?

Question 3.
Do you feel that it’s unfair for you to earn a high income, while other people work harder than you do for less money?

Question 4.
Do you often give away your time, doing jobs to help people out or putting in extra time at work for no extra pay?

Question 5.
Do you find it hard to think of ideas to make money?

Question 6.
Are you often in debt with no idea how you’ll achieve financial success?

Question 7.
Are you proud of the fact that you can manage on less money than most?

Question 8.
Does the idea of having lots of money make you feel uncomfortable or fearful?

Question 9.
Do you live in financial chaos, with little or no idea what you earn, spend and what debt you have?

Question 10.
Do you think that people who seek wealth are greedy?

If you answered YES to three or more of the questions:

Woops, you are officially an under-earner. Sadly lots more women than men fall into this category. You are probably earning way below your potential. But perhaps you just let the situation continue and even justify your low earnings to yourself? You could do with more money but do you subconsciously feel that you don’t deserve more?

Some under-earners even take pride in not needing the trappings of wealth and financial success. If you share these feelings you might be subconsciously pushing money away from you.

So, what to do? Understand how you’re allowing your beliefs to limit your earning potential. Then gradually start to mentally raise the threshold.

Ask yourself what you would be happy to earn in a year. Now gradually raise this figure in steps of £5,000. How far can you go before you start to feel uncomfortable? £20,000? £200,000?

To bust through your mental earnings barrier, think about the attitudes and beliefs you have about money. Where did they come from? Are they holding you back? Now challenge them. Were you brought up to believe that people who have lots of money are unscrupulous? Do you secretly believe people only earn good money by selling their integrity? Does your low self-worth cause you to undervalue yourself?

It’s time to dismantle the blocks that stop you from earning more money and allow it to flow into your life. Then you’re ready to go out and get it. The next steps are in our tip sheet 'How to ask for money'.

How
Sheconomic
are YOU?

Have you got
a SHOPPING problem?

Are you and
your partner
financially
IN TUNE?

Are you an
UNDER-EARNER?

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