I want to tell you a story about a decision I made that instantly 10x’ed my career earnings. Seriously, every ounce of me wanted to say no.
12 years ago, I was called into my boss’s office. It was a Friday, and we all know what happens on Fridays, don’t we?
Yeah, it’s when people get canned.
I took a seat and anxiously waited, fears racing through my mind. The instant my boss started talking, I braced myself.
Then, I relaxed.
“You’re not getting fired,” he said, sensing my concern. “In fact, it’s the opposite.”
Apparently, the organization fired an entire layer of management earlier that day, and they wanted me, a software developer without a shred of leadership experience, to take over as the Director of the Information Technology Dept.
“F*ck no,” I thought to myself. There’s no way I can do this.
I have no experience. And I was only f*cking 30 years old!
Then, almost subconsciously, the words slipped out of my mouth.
“Sure, let’s do it!”
…wait, what did I just sign myself up for???
It was a great money-making decision
I didn’t know it at the time, but I just changed the entire course of my money-making career in that split second. I went from making good money to making GREAT money, all because I decided to say “yes.”
I went from earning $60,000 yearly to over $85,000 in one day. Back in 2012, this was respectable money for a 30-year-old.
Why would I say yes to an opportunity I didn’t feel ready for?
Think about what this decision meant for my earnings throughout my career.
Saying yes to this promotion instantly put me on a much higher salary trajectory.
Consider this: Most cost-of-living raises are based on percentages. The higher your salary, the higher the raise amount.
For instance, a 5% raise on a $60,000 salary equals $3,000. After getting the raise, your new yearly salary is $63,000.
But a 5% raise on an $85,000 salary is $4,250. This raise brings your yearly salary just shy of $90,000. A bigger raise due to the bigger salary.
Bigger salaries result in an exponential increase in earned income.
Consider the following table with these two salary trajectories over time. Notice how much faster the $85,000 salary grows compared to the $60,000.
Big difference, huh?
Originally, there was a $25,000 difference between the $60,000 and $85,000 salaries. But after just five years, the salary difference jumped another $10K.
This is the magic of exponential growth and why my decision to say yes impacted my income significantly. And this assumes that you didn’t switch companies in those five years, which often results in an even bigger raise.
There are four reasons why saying yes more often will help you become a millionaire. 👇
👉 Reason 1: Saying yes helps you overcome your fears and insecurities, handle stress and rejection and break out of your comfort zone so it doesn’t hold you back. It creates an environment that embraces rejection and failure as part of the process rather than a roadblock that inhibits success.
👉 Reason 2: Saying yes makes you smarter. Everything you do – whether you succeed or fail, makes you smarter. New experiences help you learn about yourself and develop new interests. Experience = wisdom.
👉 Reason 3: Saying yes expands your personal and professional network. I believe in the phrase, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.” After my second job in the workforce, every other job came as a referral directly from someone inside my professional network (companies love it when employees refer candidates). The more you say yes, the more people you will meet.
👉 Reason 4: Saying yes makes life more fun to live. Every time I said yes, I had a lot of fun. Sure, it was difficult at times during the learning process, but every opportunity I said yes to taught me something valuable that I took to the next opportunity. Let’s face it: Success is fun.
