7 Ways to Make Your Income Leap Higher in the Leap Year
2024 has got 1 extra day — what will you do with it?
This is not a gimmick. 2024 being a leap year feels auspicious to me, and it can be the same for you if you follow the concrete steps outlined below.
Starter
Three ideologies from Jim Rohn I want you to have in mind as we go through the list of income-boosting steps are:
- Take your success seriously. This is not a joke. Your happiness and that of your family depend on your success.
- Why not you? Many people in the world have made a liveable income for themselves and many more will do the same in the year 2024. The question is — why not you?
- Why not now? Lots of people will agree with the number 1 and 2 points. They are ready to be serious and they believe they are worthy of success. But not now. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next year. Maybe in 10 years time. But I am challenging you to ask yourself why not now?
If you refuse to use today and instead ask for your unused day to be added to the end of the year, do you get an extra day in 2023? No.
Any unused day is lost.
But in 2024, even without asking, you get 1 more extra day.
It’s a leap year. What else can you make leap in your life?
What about your income? It would be nice to be able to take that trip you have been daydreaming about. To buy that present or gift for your niece she has been asking for. To put some money aside towards an early retirement or your kid’s college fund.
There’s nothing selfish about wanting a little more because the people around are going to be grateful for your increase. So also will your future self.
Main course
Let’s outline some concrete strategies to improve our spending power.
1. Make a goal, set a target
Improving your income sounds nice, but what does it even mean?
You could get an extra $10 added to your monthly income, is that an improvement? Or are you thinking of an extra $1,000 every month? What improvement do you want to see?
Don’t ask ‘how’ questions yet. Just set a desired amount. Some people are going to shirk from doing even this simple task. Be bold. Say it out loud. I want …..
Mind you, if you want to be outrageous with your target, such as setting a bazillion dollars as your aim, it’s still valid. Just know that every goal requires a price, so be ready to pay the price for an outrageous goal.
Many people have set and achieved outrageous goals. Modest goals, outrageous goals, and small goals are all valid. All you have to do is choose which one you want.
2. Decide on your Why
2024 is very long, and also very short.
On difficult days, paying the price to achieve your goal is going to make the journey seem so far and unsurmountable. But a strong ‘why’ will see you through.
Decide on your why — family, friend, yourself, a mix of all three.
If you are struggling to find your ‘why’, imagine that it’s 10 years down the line and you are giving a talk, either to a large audience or just to an audience of one, a little child, say own child or grandchild. And you get asked about how you became successful.
What story will you tell?
‘There once was (hero) who lived in (status quo), but struggled with (the why/compelling reason). Then one day, the hero read an article on Medium on how to increase their income and it moved them to make some concrete plans for 2024…’
Why do you want to increase your income? What will that do for you? Is that a good enough reason? Because some ‘whys’ are weak. Even you can tell when the reason is not compelling enough, so don’t kid yourself.
3. Determine the How
What is your means of achieving this goal?
Write down the ideas that come to mind. Both viable and even non-viable ideas. Don’t throw any out at the start.
Take into consideration the cash flow quadrant, because every segment of the quadrant has its limitations. Sometimes you might be living in 1 quadrant and hoping to gain an outcome that is only achievable by transitioning into the other quadrant.
Every means of a recurring income falls within the cash flow quadrant — Job, self-employed, business and investment.
If you don’t know much about the cash flow quadrant, I have a handy article linked at the end to give you a succinct overview. Look at it and decide if you are in the right quadrant or if you want to incorporate another quadrant.
There are lots of people living in 2 quadrants. That might be what you need, instead of working harder and harder in the same quadrant.
4. Calculate the price
Recognise that in the economy, you need to be the buyer, not the seller.
The seller sits and waits in the store, hoping someone comes by. The buyer goes out and seeks what they want. The buyer has the power of choice.
What income they want, what colour or style it should come in, when it should be delivered, etc. The buyer has more power than the seller because they can walk away and go try somewhere else.
But being the buyer has one downfall. You need to be able to afford the cost.
The increase in income you want has a price. Find out the price so you can set about paying it. If you pay the price, you get the goods.
No one can deny you what you want if you have paid the price.
5. Plug the leaks
Can you fetch 10 litres of water at the river and end up with 0 litres? Yes.
What if you decide to fetch with a bigger vessel, hoping that you will be left with something? Is it still possible to be left with nothing? Yes.
Especially if you are fetching with a basket.
Whether you increase the size of a basket, a basket is still a basket and you will still lose. Not only do you lose, you become weary and lose self-confidence.
Preventing money losses goes a long way in increasing your income even before you earn an extra penny.
For most people, based on the income target you have set for yourself, especially if it’s a modest increase, you may not need to earn even an extra penny. What you have to do is plug the leaks in your income and you find yourself with the purchasing power you were hoping for.
The 4 Laws of Financial Prosperity by Stephen Covey is one book I will recommend if you want to learn how to plug the leaks in your pocket before you put any more money into it. I wrote a succinct summary about it and I have added a link below, check it out or the main book itself.
6. Set checkpoints along the way
You know what you want; you know why you want it; you have decided on how to get it. You have a solid plan.
What could go wrong?
Anything and everything. Things go wrong all the time. Don’t act surprised when they do. Prepare for them.
Try to troubleshoot problems even before they arise. And when they eventually arise, as they always do, your problems will be meeting a formidable and prepared foe, not a person it can steam-roll over.
Set checkpoints along the way to give you a chance to reconnect with the plan, identify detours, course correct and celebrate small wins.
Don’t go on this journey without taking yourself along, blindly pursuing a goal you set 1 month or 6 months ago. You need to inspect from time to time. Set an interval for check-ins.
If weekly? That’s 54 check-ins a year. Or monthly? Or every quarter?
During these audits, find out — Is this what I still want? Are my reasons still valid? Is my goal demanding a higher price?
7. Care for yourself
You are the vehicle of your dreams, your aspirations, your hustle. All of these are yours and will all fall by the wayside the moment you can no longer continue.
In very few instances, will someone else carry on with your aspirations if you are unable to.
Caring for yourself, mind and body, is paramount to any increase in your income you want to make.
Self-care should be both physical and mental. There’s nothing that derails progress as much as emotional turmoil. Some of them we can’t avoid, but some of them we let fester. Being mindful of our health is the bedrock of any achievement.
Dessert
Let’s summarise with the initial ideologies we started with, lest you have forgotten:
- Your success is not a joke
- You are as worthy as anyone else
- Now is better than later. Plant now, reap later, rather than planting later and reaping much, much later.
You have got this.
Article on cash flow quadrant:
Article on 4 laws of financial prosperity
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