Earn More This Year with Just One Question

“Inflation is taxation without legislation.” — Milton Friedman

The new year is upon us. A time for reflection and renewal. Where we can sit in stillness and look at what our last year has brought us. It is also a time to look at the year ahead, specifically financially. I’m talking about your income. Some great questions to ask ourselves:

• What sources of income do I have?
• How could my income shift in the next year?
• What variables affect my income?

At the moment, I won’t belabor the numerous questions we should address in our reflections on our income.

What I do want to address is how to Increase your income over the next year.

First, we need to look at one of the biggest leeches to your income.

Inflation.

What is Inflation?

In today’s conflated economy, inflation is a silent tax we aren’t paying attention to. As long as you’re not living under a rock, you’ve probably been hearing about inflation on and off most of your adult life. However, if you’re not a seasoned economist, chances are you may not be deeply familiar with what it is and the impact it has on you directly. Put in simple terms…

Inflation is higher prices with lower purchasing power.

How does inflation affect us?

Here is a short list of things that are affected by inflation:

• Interest Rates
• Stock Returns
• Fixed Income Investments
• Cost of Living
• Savings
• Retirement Income
• Today’s Dollar Value and more…

Essentially, inflation affects everything.

2020 vs 2021 Purchasing Power

Inflation changes how much our dollar is worth today compared to last year.

$1 in 2020 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $1.07 today, an increase of $0.07 over 2 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.63% per year between 2020 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 7.39%.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index, this means that today’s prices are 1.07 times higher than average prices since 2020. Today, a dollar only buys 93.46% of what it could buy back then. (in2013dollars.com)

Here is a chart from just the last 12 months of how inflation has grown astronomically.

For every $100 you kept from the last year, it is now only worth $93.46 — roughly.

That should concern — even anger — all of us.

Combating Inflation

Now I’m sure you’re wondering, is there any way to overcome inflation?

Yes, there are a few ways to overcome inflation. For the most part, they all boil down to — increase your income. This, in turn, is a collection of things you’ve probably heard before:

• Lower your cost of living
• Become debt-free
• Have multiple streams of income
• Utilizing tax write-offs
• Sell digital products
• Create passive income
• Increase your salary

This is not a definitive list; you can generate more income in so many ways today; it’s amazing. You simply need to use what you already know. Whether you’re making items for Etsy, repurposing items on eBay, or earning money through a side hustle. Just start with what you know and create a consistent habit.

The Solution — The Question

The best way to increase your income is to look at what you’re at, what is currently making you money, and ask this question.

“What skills can I develop to make myself more valuable?”

This is the question that will exponentially make you more money. When we develop our skills to create more value, we make ourselves invaluable to those who are paying us. This applies to your career job, freelance work, or side-hustle; anywhere in your life, you want to grow the value.

Keys to Start

1. Take an inventory of your skills.

• What are you great at?
• What are you good at?
• What do you like to do?

2. Take these three lists and create mind maps from each item listed.

• In the center, you write the skill you’re good at. For me, that’s people; I’m a big people person. Then you build around that by asking:
• What areas does that skill affect or interact with?

3. Do this over and over until you have multiple mind maps. Then look for crossover between those mind maps.

(i.e., between communication and relationship I have date coaching | & | between sales and relationships I have account manager)

Some Quick Examples

Career — Sales // If you’re on the sales career path in the roofing industry. You’re an expert with face-to-face conversations, you have your top 3 closer statements, and are good at public speaking. Where would you benefit from expanding your skills?

• If you want to expand into the tech field — learn about smart house improvements people can make.
• If you want to expand into the business field— read the contracts you’re giving people when you make the sale and look for ways to break the contract in the buyers’ favor. Now reverse it, where is the business leaving something on the table?

Freelance — Graphic Designer // Say you’re in the graphic design realm for freelance. You’re an expert at Photoshop and Illustrator, know enough InDesign to get by and all the required design foundations. Where would you benefit from expanding your skills?

• If you want to pull in more entertainment or commercial work — learn Adobe After Effects.
• If you want to pull in more web work — learn animation inside JavaScript or CSS.

Side Hustle —Crafty Mom // Let’s say your side hustle is making cute toddler items to sell on Etsy. You’ve been growing your market, you’ve become a small brand that people come back to, and you don’t know what to do next. Where would you benefit from expanding your skills?

• If you want to expand your business — look at product development; what other products can you create and sell?
• If you want to increase your customer base — look at learning SEO on Etsy; this is its own animal. Similar to SEO in general but has some special cases about it.

It also applies beyond just beating inflation. However, I’ve found it best used to beat inflation.

Takeaways

At the end of the day, whether you choose to combat inflation — directly or indirectly — by increasing your income. Be sure to focus on building a life you love. I’ve been prone to get lost in the weeds sometimes regarding beating inflation and increasing my income. This is how I discovered the one question to help revolutionize your income.

“What skills can I develop to make myself more valuable?”

The skills we build go beyond single-use — they are transferable. It creates a focus on sustainability rather than merely a moving goalpost of increased income. Which inevitably ends up helping us beat inflation and continue growing our income.

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