Want to earn good income? Keen to have growing income? It's quite within your reach, but remember that nothing good comes easy. It also never seriously pays to leave important aspects of your life to chance. What this says is that you have to deliberately work to achieve the results you desire for each sphere of your life, if you really want significant advancement. That applies, too, to your ability to generate growing incomes. It means taking control and challenging yourself for the results you desire. That is also responsible living, which, most times, brings fulfillment.
A lot of income-building and diversification strategies have been discussed on some other pages in this section, but the central role of self-development needs special consideration. Without sharpening the sword, you are bound to fail in warfare. Blunt tools don't do the trick. When you are the tool behind your income-earning ability, how will it grow if you lack the sharp cutting edge? Self-development is the sharpening process that will position you for that quest to generate the income stream that will meet your life-aspirations. But what is self-development?
Building Internal Capacities
Self-development, also self-improvement, refers to all processes and actions that aim to build your internal capacities, especially by expanding your knowledge-base, intellect, skills, mental disposition, motivation and overall development. It is 'self' because it not only works on you, but is largely driven by you. It is simply a capacity-building process, aiming to make you better and better, all the time. It raises your quality as you go through it and invariably, raises your value. In effect, you command a higher market price whether someone has to pay for your services or if you undertake activities for yourself. In the latter case, higher price obviously means that the results-expectation that will compensate for your work is higher and the potential for success - its realisation - is also enhanced. To continue to be in demand and to command a growing value, one step you must pursue is self-improvement. That is what will boost your potentials for a growing income base, whether through paid employment or in other engagements.
Always Possible if You Want
That's another important point. This self-building process, so important for your earnings capacity, is something you can embark on at any point in your life. Don't misinterpreted this as meaning that you can defer it as long as you want. That will cost you dearly in missed opportunities. You are better off embarking on committed self-development from childhood, first through formal education. You also need to sustain the process through life by taking advantage of numerous opportunities in various forms that become available to you. One key aspect is the opportunity to learn from others by reading their publications in books, magazines, newspapers, and the internet, which today, is becoming a commanding medium. The point about being always possible is rather an encouragement that if you have missed anything that you ought to have done at any point of your life to develop yourself, you can always do something about it. Simply wake up to the need, gird your loins and take the bull by the horns.
Specific Things You Can Do
Formal education is so crucial and should form the foundation of your capacity-building process. Even when you have missed to get it while young, you know you can still do so today because the opportunities exist. Don't be the one to hold yourself back. You have basic formal education? Where have you specialised? Specialist knowledge is usually a high-paying skill because it's not everybody that has it. Or a professional qualification. Even when you can't get these, there is always the option of learning an important skill or trade. What about the unique ideas and concepts that get developed all the time and learned through seminars and courses. You must take advantage to improve yourself. You need to stay current by tracking relevant news and information. Above all, you need a learning mind that cherishes new knowledge, ideas and information. You must refuse to be satisfied with the level you have attained and continue to seek ways to get better, all the time. You have to strive to identify shortcomings in you that you can work to improve on. Your slogan should just be: better is the only option. When you keep improving yourself that way, you automatically expand you ability and opportunities for income growth. You command a better price, discover new income sources, operate more efficiently and continue to raise the bar for your accomplishments. That's how easy (and difficult) it is to shape what comes into your pocket.
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