I just finished reading and reviewing a book by Barbara Stanny called ‘Overcoming UnderEarning’! I learned a lot from it and I hope you found my reviews helpful also! A guide to the whole set of reviews is here.

The last chapter was called ‘Putting it all Together’ and focussed on one particular person’s story.

What I’m going to do with this post is review my reviews of the other chapters and highlight my favorite parts – as well as the parts that I want to keep in mind best I can to help my own situation:

“replace a bake-sale mentality with a grander vision”

one common trait of underearners is “a high tolerance for low pay”

“the key to upping your earnings is rarely working longer hours …”

“high earners ‘think’ differently which results in different choices and outcomes. And some of the inner voices that tend to hold us back like “you do not have what it takes”.

“The Most Important Financial Advice You’ll Ever Get”. And the answer is:

You’ve got to be willing to be uncomfortable.

“underearning can no longer be an option, keep your commitments, don’t let yourself get derailed, do what you dread.

“… if you don’t do what you say you are going to, it chips away at your self-esteem

“Not one of us will ever make more money until we explicitly decide that’s what we want to do. I saw this with every six-figure woman I spoke to.”

“you’re willing to walk through fire to make it happen.”

“Making a decision means slamming shut all the doors to other options, blocking off the exits, and, no matter what happens, keep moving toward your destination because anything else is unacceptable.”

“You need to be stubborn about the results you’re going for, but very flexible on how you get there.”

“Resistance emerges as soon as you enter the Discomfort Zone, the space between where you are now and where you want to be”. Barbara then lists 12 signs of being in resistance. I won’t list them all here, just the ones that stood out to me:

- You’re scared into inaction
– You fog up, space out
– You feel paralyzed
– You find reason not to act

“Whenever you decide to do something different … the desired result always lies just beyond reach, in the Discomfort Zone.”

“Your biggest barrier is fear.”
“There’s no escaping the Discomfort Zone.”

“From this day forward, find ways to stretch on a regular basis.”

“Create Community
4 kinds of supporters: True Believers, Confidantes, Way Showers (role models) and Messengers

1) Realize no one will do this for me, but I don’t have to do it alone.

2) Reach out, ask for support.

3) Hang out with the kind of people you want to be, not who you’ve been.

you need to shift your mindset from whatever it is now to that of a wealth builder.

“Think big. Act small. And never, ever stop until you attain your goal, no matter what.”

5 steps:

1) Tell the truth about what’s not working, and what is.
2) Make a firm decision about what you truly want.
3) Look for opportunities to stretch by doing what you think you can’t do.
4) Surround yourself with a supportive community.
5) Respect and appreciate money by taking good care of it.

Throughout the book Barbara had inspirational quotes here and there – these were my favorite ones:

“Thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become habits. Habits become character. Character becomes destiny.”

— unknown

“Life is not about finding yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.”

– George Bernard Shaw

“The truth is the only safe ground to stand on.”

— Elizabeth Cady Stanton

“The question I ask every day is the same it’s always been. How much further can I stretch to reach my fullest potential.”

— Oprah Winfrey

“If you grow your money so you have more than you need, that’s wealth. If you use your money to make a difference, that’s power.”

(See whole ‘Overcoming UnderEarning’ review series here)