How low can you go?
How low can you go? What that phrase means to you depends on what generation you belong to. For some, a dance challenge from a song comes to mind with dancers passing under a progressively lower bar on their feet while leaning backward.
For others, Michelle Obama might come to mind with her famous "when they go low, we go high" statement.
For the purpose of this article, I want you to think of the phrase from the lowering of the bar point of view and ask yourself if your actions and decisions are consistent with your desire to achieve more or whether you are progressively lowering the bar when it comes to your career, finances and ultimately, your purpose.
It is said that once you start accepting less and settling for mediocrity, it becomes a habit and reaches a point where you are unable to turn the tide when you finally decide that you've had enough.
Enough of the abstract statements and a practical example.
Tina was employed as an accountant and despite her qualifications, accepted a salary lower than the market average. Why, you ask? She had stayed without a job for close to a year after her previous contract came to an end and was feeling desperate.
She hoped to "prove" herself on the job and get paid her worth, or at the very least, the market rate, after her probation period was over, but no such thing happened.
On the contrary, her workload increased when her employer realised her capabilities, but there was no corresponding pay rise.
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As if that were not enough, the organisation restructured and let go of some of her colleagues. And guess who took on some of the extra workload? Tina. Again, there was no salary increment.
The number of Tinas that exist in workplaces abound.
It's not just in the workplace. In people's personal lives, some wait until needless harm is done before taking action.
You've heard of the person who let her housekeeper steal sugar, then soap, a little food and then one day they took off with expensive valuables. All because they didn't nip the bad habits in the bud.
Are yor letting many things 'slide' to the point that it's costing your finances, your peace or your purpose?
How low are you waiting go before you put your foot down and say enough is enough?
Here's my challenge to you this week and thereafter, borrowed from part of Michelle Obama's statement: Go high.