One of the defining characteristics of a Smart Woman is that she is
paid what she is worth. So why is it then that so many Smart Women (and even Smart Men)
regularly accept earning less then they should? Did you earn what you deserve in 1999?
Were you fully recognized for the value you bring to the work place? Well, if the answer
to the above is "no", that’s okay because a new millennium awaits us.
Having taught thousands of women the following 12 Commandments To Attracting Greater
Wealth I know that if you take action and utilize these simple yet powerful concepts you
can attract greater wealth in you life in 2000 and beyond! As we begin this incredibly
exciting year my hope for you is that in 2000 you are a Smart Women that both lives and
finishes rich!
COMMANDMENT 1
WHATEVER YOU EARN RIGHT NOW IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU ACCEPTED.
People constantly complain about how much money they make-or, rather, how much they don't
make. I call them the gripers. They say things like "My boss doesn't appreciate
me," or "I haven't gotten a raise in over a year," or "All my hard
work and effort goes unnoticed," or "If only I worked for XYZ Company, I'd make
twice what I'm a making now," or-and this is the classic line-"I'm in a dead-end
career going nowhere." For the next 30 days I want you to say to yourself whenever
you hear one of these people going on about how lousy his or her situation is: "If
their work is so unappreciated, they should get off their collective butts and change
their destiny."
COMMANDMENT 2
SOCIETY REWARDS PEOPLE WHO ADD VALUE.
The single greatest way to increase your income is to add value. I learned this important
lesson from motivational speaker Zig Zigler. Zig says that in order for you to get out of
life what you want, you have to help other people get out of life what they want. Even if
you never did anything else of note, this one action would boost your standing with your
boss or client. (By the way, this works with significant others and children too.)
COMMANDMENT 3
DISCOVER WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUELY VALUABLE.
We are all blessed with special talents that make us unique. Some people discover their
talent at a young age and from then on focus their lives on honing it until they are
rewarded by society.
The question you need to ask yourself (or ask others who know you) is what makes you
uniquely valuable. What is it that you have to offer? Chances are there is something that
you love doing. Most likely it's something you're good at. The point is, if you focus on
this thing you love doing, you can become uniquely valuable enough at it that you can be
paid significantly to do it.
COMMANDMENT 4
DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME ON THINGS OTHER PEOPLE SHOULD BE DOING FOR YOU.
Time is our most precious asset. Yet most people waste it doing stuff that someone else
can do. Figure out what you make an hour and then never do something that you can pay
someone else less to do. A Smart Woman focuses on what she does that makes her uniquely
valuable. Everything else, she delegates.
COMMANDMENT 5
CLEAN UP THE MESSES IN YOUR LIFE.
Whether it’s at home or at work most people are slowed down by the messes that
clutter their space. Consider cleaning your office first! According to time-management
expert Jeffrey Mayer, author of Time Management for Dummies, most people spend about an
hour a day looking for papers that are lost on the top of their desks-60 percent of which
aren't needed anyway! Now, think about this for a second. If the average person is really
spending an hour a day looking for stuff, that's about 22 hours a month, or 264 hours a
year, down the drain. That's a whole month of working time.
The messes in your life don't stop at the office. You should clean up your home as well.
COMMANDMENT 6
ASK YOURSELF…WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE FINANCIALLY IN THREE YEARS?
One of the greatest things you can do is to get really clear on your direction. To assist
my clients and help them do this I always ask them the following question…If we were
getting together three years from today, what would you want to see happen in your life to
feel you had made great financial progress?
Some people call this goal setting. I call it life planning. Why write it down? Well as
motivational expert Anthony Robbins taught me, if your life is worth living its worth
recording! What could be more worth recording then the direction you want your life as a
woman to head in the 21 Century.
COMMANDMENT 7
INVEST IN YOURSELF.
For some reason, once most people leave school (and it does not matter whether we're
talking about high school, college, or graduate school), they stop valuing the process of
learning. I think this is a big mistake. The common denominator among really successful
people is that they consistently seek new skills and better tools. Less than 5 percent of
Americans read books like this one. They can propel you to a higher quality of life and
happiness.
COMMANDMENT 8
LEARN TO BE A "GO-GIVER."
John Templeton, the billionaire investor and renowned philanthropist, once said that the
key to life is not to be a go-getter but a "go-giver." This one statement
changed my life. It is so easy to get caught up in whatever it is we are trying to
accomplish, which often leads us to believe that we should be a go-getter. But a go-getter
focuses on getting. A go-giver focuses on giving.
I'm not just talking about giving financially to charity but also about giving
time to the people who need it. This can even start at home with your children or at the
office with a new employee. Seek to be the person who is there with a helping hand.
COMMANDMENT 9
MAKE A DECISION.
Your financial future can be shaped the moment you make a financial decision. Remember the
basic philosophy of Smart Women Finish Rich: When it comes to your future, you can be
either proactive or reactive. Most people never make up their minds about the things that
are important to them. So ask yourself: What’s one big decision have I been avoiding?
I suggest that you stop avoiding it and act on it in 2000.
COMMANDMENT 10
FOCUS ON BEING A "GO-TO GAL."
In sports, certain athletes are known as "go-to guys." These are the players who
can be counted on to deliver in a pinch. The idea is that when the game is on the line,
others give the ball to the guy who can make the play-the go-to guy.
These days more and more women are making names for themselves in both sports and
business. That's what a Smart Woman wants to do. She wants to become known as the type of
woman who rises above the competition, who can make it happen. She wants to be a
"go-to gal."
COMMANDMENT 11
TO MAKE MORE MONEY, YOU HAVE TO ASK FOR MORE MONEY.
In sales, they say the key to success is learning that you have to ask for the order. But
salespeople aren't the only ones who need to learn that lesson. Everything in life that's
important requires you to "ask for the order." From getting promoted to getting
your children to pick up their clothes, you're not going to get what you really want if
you don't ask for it. Yes, if you do all the other commandments I've listed, you're bound
to be rewarded in some way or another-but if you are going to be able to charge your
customer more or get that raise you want and deserve, ultimately you're going to have to
ask for it.
COMMANDMENT 12
LIVE BY THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIHN!
MIHN stands for Make It Happen Now! In life I believe there are really four types of
people. Those who watch things happen, those who wonder what happened, those who complain
about what happened, and those who MAKE THINGS HAPPEN NOW! As you go about your life, ask
yourself regularly which person are you being. Life is not a dress rehearsal. You get in
life exactly what you go for. I say the heck with being a spectator and jump in.
TAKE THE TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES
2000 is going to be an incredibly exciting year. There will basically be two types of
people in 1999; those that focus on what they didn’t get in the 20th Century and
those that focus on who they will become and what they will enjoy in the 21st
Century. While I believe that achieving financial security and attracting greater wealth
in your life is a goal worth striving for I want to end this article with something I
myself often neglect. In our efforts to build a secure future and protect our financial
destiny, we should never forget that the greatest asset we have is life. Unfortunately,
life is of limited duration and is not guaranteed. There is no insurance we can buy that
will give us back our life or make it possible for us to bring back those we love.
My point is that you shouldn't get so consumed with your financial journey that you don't
spend enough time-sharing moments with the people you love. As you take control over your
finances and your career, please remember to let those you really care about know how much
they mean to you.
Live Your Life with No Regrets!
The choice is yours. Take the tools in this article and start now to begin your personal
journey to the new woman you want to be in three years-more financially secure than you
are now, more successful in your career, happier, even healthier.
