Paid in Full #005: Using your gift at work

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Here are a new ideas to help you earn more and a new concept to help you live happier:

Using Your Gift at Work

For most of us, getting paid in full means making the most of your full-time job. Having the consistency of a bi-weekly paycheck, benefits and access to a network will help you keep a clear head if you decide to build something for yourself outside your 9-5 job. It’s common to think you have to sacrifice your career to see any progress with your own project. But I’ve found that it’s possible to do both successfully. Here’s this week’s guiding principle to help you achieve this.

Guiding Principle:

Your gift will make room for you.

I genuinely believe every human has a specific gift. Some gifts are extremely obvious – like people who are great with numbers. For some of us, it may feel a little more ambiguous. It's important to understand what you have is all you need. Your gift of building genuine connections with people or breaking down complex problems or even making people laugh will make room for greatness in your career and your life. If you don’t know what your gift is yet, identify it. Ask your parents what you were like as a kid. Talk to a friend what they think your strengths are. It’s the key to unlocking your full potential.

Put me in coach

Within the first three months of my new role at Shopify, I spoke in front of more than 4,000 employees and sat on multiple panels with the chief operating officer and other leaders at the company. I quickly realized how important it is to make an impact in the first 90 days of your new role so you can set yourself up for future raises and promotions. How do you build a brand internally to ensure you get paid in full from your job?

Volunteer for the right things

Volunteering for projects in your company can have a positive impact on your career; but putting your hand up for the wrong projects will do more harm than good. Consistency builds credibility. Focus on volunteering for projects inside and outside your team that will highlight your strengths. If you get asked to contribute to a project that does not fall within your zone of genius, use this exact script:

“Thank you for thinking of me for this project. At this time, I don’t have the capacity to contribute to this. I would recommend reaching out to [person’s name] to see if they can help.”

I hate project management. Mostly because I get bored after the first week of starting a new one. I’m also pretty bad with tiny details. That being said, I avoid highly complex projects as often as I can. Any time an opportunity to coach, speak or train comes by, I put my hand up – even before I know what is required. This is what helped me establish a personal brand.

Document everything

Have you ever gone into your annual review and struggled to highlight everything you did during the year? Most of us do. But if you want to accelerate your earnings from your job, you need to have a paper trail of your accomplishments. Every contribution you make – big or small – should be documented. Every compliment you earn from a colleague, team lead or a customer should be screenshot and saved. This might feel unnecessary or like overkill, but it will change your career. You are the only true advocate for your career. It is your responsibility to constantly build a case for why you deserve to progress.

Here’s an amazing?Brag Doc template from the Fountain Institute. You can make a copy or recreate something similar in Word format to help you keep track of your wins. You will need this when you negotiate for your next raise or promotion.

Advocate for something

In most companies, promotions and raises are not automatic. Just because people can see your gift, doesn’t mean your managers will throw money at you. If you stay silent, a company will continue to pay you the same thing for as long as they legally can. It’s up to you to ask for what you actually want. If you’re seeking promotion for a leadership role, you should tell a leader within your company. If you want an increase in your compensation, you should have a conversation with your boss so you can begin working towards what you need to do to achieve it. Don’t make the mistake of waiting for good karma to come to you.

When your gift makes room for you, make the most of it!

Recommendation of the week:

Watch this short?YouTube clip?by Naval Ravikant

Naval is one of my favourite thinkers. He's easily one of the best entrepreneurs of this generation. In this video, he talks about how to escape competition by embracing your authentic self. The more self aware you become, the easier it is to embrace your strengths and flaws – and the easier it is to stand out from the crowd.

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Starting next week, I will begin sharing more practical resources to help you accelerate your paid in full journey!

Talk soon!

Tobi