Brian Tracy walks through seven questions to identify what makes you valuable and marketable. Write down your skills, past wins, what you're naturally good at, and what job you actually want in three to five years. Then figure out what's blocking you from getting there.
If you want to increase your earning ability, there are key questions that you can ask yourself on a regular basis so that you are completely clear about what it is that you have to offer. Look into yourself and make a list of all the things that you can do that someone somewhere in the marketplace would be willing to pay money for. You see, your earning ability is your ability to get results that people value. You must absolutely, positively know the answers to these questions if you want to maximize your value, your earning ability, and your income in our economy. One of the most important responsibilities in adult life as the president of your own personal corporation, is for you to develop skills for which there is a demand in the marketplace and then keep those skills current. So the first question you then ask is, what are your skills? Make a list of every skill that you have developed as a result of study and practice and experience. Write down every skill that you have used to get results for yourself and others in the past. The more the better. And by the way, you'll be quite amazed at all the skills that you have developed over the course of your lifetime. But until you write them down, you're really not aware of how competent and capable you really are. Here's the second question. What have you done well at various jobs and activities in the past? What sort of activities in the past have been most responsible for your success in your work life to date? So look back over your career and think about your high points, your greatest successes. What specific skills and abilities were you using at the time that you were getting the very best results? Aristotle once said that all of wisdom is a combination of experience plus reflection. It's only when you reflect on what it was that you were doing, where you were the most successful, that you can then identify those skills and use them again and again in the future. Here's the third question. What sort of activities in your work and personal life do you most enjoy? Remember, you will always be most successful doing the things that you enjoy the most. What sort of activities give you the greatest feeling of pleasure and personal satisfaction? When you're engaged in this type of activity, you lose track of time, you become completely absorbed, and you feel wonderful about yourself when you are done. What are these activities for you? Question number four is, what parts of your work do you do most easily and well? What you have done well in the past is often a good indicator of what you will do best in the future. The first Law of Horses says that the best direction to ride a horse is in the direction that the horse is going. The very best way for you to maximize your income and your possibilities is to do more and more of the things that you do the most easily and well. What are they? What is the natural direction of your interests and abilities? Number five is for you to describe your ideal job. Imagine that you could have any job in the world. Exactly what job would that be? Remember, you can't hit a target that you can't see if you want a million dollars cash tomorrow. And you could choose any job at all. Exactly what would your ideal job look like? Project yourself into the future. What sort of work would you like to be doing in three to five years? Since three to five years is going to pass in any case, the time to start thinking about where you want to be in the future. Today. Now, just as in any kind of goal setting, identify the obstacles that stand between you and getting your ideal job. What is the main obstacle? Why can't you get your ideal job today? What is standing in your way or holding you back? Very often it's an action on your part or a talent or a skill or more information. But find out what's holding you back and go to work on that. And here's the final question. What level of responsibility do you desire in your work? How high up do you want to rise in your career? What level or position would you be most comfortable with? Do you enjoy working by yourself or would you like to be a manager with people working under you? Remember, some people are ideally suited for individual work and others are better suited to work as managers or supervisors. Which type of physician would make you the happiest based on your past experience? The more specific you are with regard to what and where and why and when and how you wish to work, the easier it is for you to find the right job and earn the very most money possible for you.
