How happy are you with the money you earn? Do you feel that you are underpaid?

Let’s look into this issue by reading this deep poem from Jessie B. Rittenhouse about bargaining with life.

Jessie+B.jpg — My Wage

I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However, I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;
For Life is just an employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial's hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.
Jessie B. Rittenhouse (1869 – 1948)
Poet, Editor and Donor

What do you understand from Jessie’s words? There are three takeaways from this beautiful poem that belongs to a century ago!

We normally accept what has been offered to us without setting high goals and standards.
Life is basically an employer and responds to what we ask and no more. But we need to do more than what we have been paid for.
If we are not confident in our services, we should expect to settle for less than what we are worth.

Therefore, don’t expect anyone to think that you deserve more for two reasons: 1) you don’t believe in yourself, 2) you don’t live by the fact that you can make your goals happen. I couldn't have put it better myself: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

So, where should you start? Define clearly in a few sentences what you want. Decide what you are willing to pay in return, which could be different forms of services! Then, deliver what you promised to the best of your ability! Accordingly, you can determine how much you can make and you can write your own paycheck! You can increase your market value and set your own wage by reflecting on these three critical questions:

How strong is the demand for what you do?
How truly capable and professional are you in your job?
How hard is it to find someone like you to do your job?

Earl Nightingale answered these three questions in a remarkable manner.

The amount of money we receive will always be in direct ratio to the demand for what we do, our ability to do it, and the difficulty in replacing us.

In conclusion, one can become indispensable and the linchpin in his/her field of work, which eventually can get paid what he/she desires. As Erica Ariel Fox, Harvard Law School professor and the author of the New York Times bestseller “Winning From Within: A Breakthrough Method for Leading, Living, and Lasting Change” pointed out:

The most important negotiation in your life is “getting to yes” with yourself. When you learn how to do that, you’ll start winning at everything else.

Bargaining With Life

We normally accept what has been offered to us without setting high goals and standards.

Life is basically an employer and responds to what we ask and no more. But we need to do more than what we have been paid for.

If we are not confident in our services, we should expect to settle for less than what we are worth.

The amount of money we receive will always be in direct ratio to the demand for what we do, our ability to do it, and the difficulty in replacing us.

The most important negotiation in your life is “getting to yes” with yourself. When you learn how to do that, you’ll start winning at everything else.