As I began preparing for my upcoming Earn What you Deserve workshop, I began reflecting back to when I began my journey towards earning a 6-figure income in corporate America. I remember spending  a lot of time in blame mode.   First, I blamed the system for not paying teachers enough. When I left teaching to join the dark side of the corporate world, I blamed my job for not paying me enough money and my boss for not offering me a raise when I was clearly performing above and beyond expectations.

Chances are if you’re dissatisfied with your income you’ve played the blame game, perhaps with different contestants  like your spouse, family, education, background, the economy, or whatever else comes to mind. Regardless of what or who you have been blaming, the truth is you have more control than you think when it comes to what you earn. And more importantly you have exclusive control over how to make what you earn work for you instead of against you.

If you are stuck in a place of consistently underearning, being paid less than what you are worth from an employer or client here are three reasons you are not having the financial success you desire (and deserve):

1. You base your salary requirements on your current expenses instead of what your skills and experiences are worth. How do you answer the question, “What kind of salary are you looking for?” What are you you using to come up with that number. Just because your budget only requires $40, 000 a year, doesn’t mean that should be the limit for your salary.

2. You have no clearly defined financial plan. Wanting to make more money so you can have more things is not a financial plan. When people don’t have a clearly defined plan, it usually means that their job is their only source of short term and long term income. Your plan should provide for your needs, wants, and goals for now and for the future) and include means for investing on others.

3. You are in conflict how what you feel about money and wealth. If you grew up in a home where there was myth and misinformation about how to acquire, manage and grow money, it can be a challenge to develop the habits or mind and wallet that lead to financial wealth. Until you address negative associations you have about money you will always find a way to sabotage the progress you make towards successfully reaching your financial goals. This includes any judgments you have about wealthy people as well.

4. You question your value. The issue of not asking for a raise has less to do with how your boss thinks about you and more to do with how you think about you. It’s the same thing if you are an entrepreneur or business owner:  it’s not that your people can’t afford your services – you don’t have the confidence to go after customers who will pay what you deserve for your product or service.

Ready to get out of this rut? Join me for  the next Earn What You Deserve workshop where you can learn 5 steps to overcome your fears about money and earn what you deserve. Click here for registration details.

As “The Career Makeover Coach”, Tai Goodwin is on a mission to help ambitious individuals reinvent their professional lives by centering on their passion and purpose. Holding as a core belief that we are all called to divine purpose and gifted with a unique passion, Tai uses a results driven, spiritually grounded approach to help clients create career paths to support the lifestyle they desire. Whether it’s helping people go from embittered to empowered professionals or making the transition from employee to entrepreneur, Tai is committed to helping clients tap into their own potential for brilliance. Tai has been empowering others through teaching and coaching for over 14 years. A gifted and insightful communicator, Tai holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Drexel University and a Master of Science in Education from Capella University. She has completed ASTD’s (American Society for Training and Development) Coaching Certificate program and is pursuing professional coaching certification through the International Coach Academy. Originally from Philadelphia, Tai currently lives in Delaware with her daughter. She is currently working on her first book: Reclaiming Your Brilliance: Seven Ways to Take Your Life from Bright to Brilliant.

Web site: http://www.careermakeovercoach.com

This post was originally published at Qvisory.

As a twenty-something in the workforce, you will be questioned time after time. Here are three ways to build credibility:

1. Develop skills that travel.

Most likely, you’ll change jobs 6-8 times before your thirty. You need to develop a set of talents that will travel with you from job to job. Career coaches call these transferable skill sets (e.g. communication, interpersonal, and management skills).  Essentially, the skills you’ve been developing since grade school. Consistently developing these abilities will not only open the door to any job you want, but will make you successful wherever you go.

2. Hug thy naysayer.

Generation Y wants to be liked. We grew up being coddled by our parents, and frankly think we’re the best thing on earth and like to be told so. Not everyone agrees with us however, and a lot more don’t even like us.

While it’s important not to get wrapped up in what others think, you need to build relationships, even with the people bringing you down. Learning to deal with criticism effectively is about knowing yourself, who you are, and what your motivations are for working.

The next step is to develop mutual respect. When comments get heated on my blog, I often email the person and talk to them individually. I say thank you a lot, even when their thoughts make me want to scream. I appreciate that they’ve taken the time to respond to what I had to say. It’s best to engage in conversation when all the players are at the table. That’s how you learn.

3.  Don’t work harder, work smarter.

When a twenty-something doesn’t show up to the office at 9 AM, the rest of the world worries.  But our generation works differently. Make sure it’s in your contract that your performance isn’t based on when you show up to work, but if you get the job done. And if you want to wear jeans to work every day, say so. Be upfront about how you can add the most value.  You’ll work better if you’re able to choose how you are productive, and your results will speak for themselves.

I had the opportunity to be at a BNI networking meeting this afternoon.  Each person went around the room and did a great job asking for referrals.  They were very clear about who they wanted to be connected to and very little rambling that I often hear when I listen to people ask for referrals.  But I was appalled at how many people were talking while others were asking for referrals.  Is it that hard to listen for 30 minutes?  Have we created an entire society of people who have Attention Deficit Disorder?

Listening is key to good networking, but it seems more and more people are either distracted by their IPhones, or have something so important to say to those around them that they cannot give one moments attention to those around them.

Stop talking, start listening and you might find that you can help others or at the very least, learn something new.

Hazel M Walker, owns three award winning franchise’s. She is a 10 year owner of two BNI Franchises where she teaches members how to leverage their time and network to build each others businesses. She is also a Referral Institute franchise owner and teaches Business Owners how to harness the Science of Referrals to develop Referrals for Life. Hazel is a published author in New York Times best sellers Masters of Networking and Masters of Sales. As a member of the National Speakers Association she travels the world speaking to businesses and women’s organizations on the topics of networking to create a life you love.

My friend knows how much I love to file with the Freedom Filer system. She was sick and tired of all the paper clutter she had in her home so she came to me and bought the system this week. As we were talking she shared this experience with me:

They had their kitchen tiled and were very happy with the job that was done until a few months later when the grout began to come out. They want to contact the man who did it but their dilemma now is that they don’t know what they did with the man’s contact information. She realizes if she had had a working filing system she would know exactly where to find his information. (It would be in the orange category under Service Providers if she used the Freedom Filer system). It is just that simple.

A good filing system by color and category saves so much time, frustration, money and emotional trauma. If you don’t have a place for every piece of paper that comes into your home I suspect you have a lot of clutter or at the very least a certain amount of frustration when looking for important papers.

My organizing tip of the day is to set up a working filing system, get rid of paper clutter in your home, start slow when doing this and enjoy the journey which will lead you to a more peaceful life. (Sorry if that sounds corny—it is true).

Marilyn Bohn is an energetic, lively, compassionate, hard working and creative organizer. She was born to organize! Before becoming a professional organizer she worked professionally in diverse environments. She is involved in her community, providing her clients with a broad base of experience and knowledge.  She is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO).