Workin' Girl
I Raised My Income From $45K A Year To Over $150K By Making These Life Changes
23 May 2019
Making money is, essentially, a game.
Once you learn how to play any game, it's often easier to win.
<p>I've doubled my income multiple times over the last five years. Each time I made a leap in my income, it was because I worked on myself more than anything. I worked on how I lived my life. I worked on the beliefs I held. I worked on healing old wounds. I worked on my faith. I worked on my skills and abilities. I raised myself up to become the person who could make the kind of money I desired to make.<br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xMjYxMzE3MS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDE0MTU1M30.qAx8OqVOtVwbVyQWjq53rDVhMl4LCHCCrBl6h_9FGkI/img.gif?width=980" id="5f36a" width="400" height="171" data-rm-shortcode-id="5112dd81fec65d7dbe4a8ebbdc85edd1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p>The first four years of my career were spent working at a global consulting firm. Although it seemed like the perfect job on the outside, there was a lot of pressure and bureaucracy that came with such a prestigious job and I didn't feel like I fit in there.</p><p><div class="adRUPTad medrectangle" data-adunit="medrectangle"></div><div class="ad-tag">
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</div></p><p>I was also working one, sometimes two side jobs, just to make some extra cash doing everything from promotional modeling to hostessing. Despite the hustle, I was only making around $45,000 a year. That was a lot of work and a lot of fight for such small paychecks.</p><p>I was also pretty unhappy in life and with myself. I was living in a place I didn't like. I spent most of my evenings watching TV. My friends and coworkers were buying homes, traveling, and living a life that was richer and fuller than mine.</p><h5>I finally got fed up with my situation and started to work on myself. At 24, I realized no one was coming to save me and that it was up to me to save myself.</h5><p>I canceled my cable and started going to the gym. I started reading books about personal growth, life, and money. I started cooking and eating healthier foods. I started thinking for myself as opposed to what we're told to think. And I starting focusing on the goodness in life as opposed to the things that sucked.<br></p><p><div class="ad-tag">
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</div></p><p>It was not easy, but I was determined to create a better life for myself. It took me about two years of self-improvement before my outside world fully reflected the inside world.</p><p>Before I knew it, I had paid off over $10,000 in credit card debt with the principles I learned about money and I set a goal to make $60,000 a year. That seemed like a lot of money and I didn't know how I was going to make it happen, or if I could make it happen. But something in me believed it was possible.</p><p class="image-media media-photo-credit shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xMjYxMzE3My9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NTQ4MzI0Nn0.kUjHx9jZVwwUybl7fmLaq-SXNvy7H2HUIMM-DWNfy8o/img.gif?width=980" id="899bd" width="500" height="269" data-rm-shortcode-id="78f00ba6f36a40bf7f118850745227ad" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"> <em>My therapist's reaction</em></p><p>I shared my goal with my therapist at the time. I was shocked at her response when she told me my goal was bull-ish. Instead, she lovingly told me that I should aim for $75,000 a year. Not because $75,000 was some magical number, but because I was worth it.</p><p><div class="ad-tag">
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</div></p><p>$75,000 a year felt like a ridiculous goal. How could someone like me make that kind of money? I didn't have more than an undergraduate degree and a few years working experience. How in the hell was I going to pull that off? The fact that my therapist believed in me and believed I could earn $75,000 a year made me believe it also.</p><h4>Related: <a href="http://xonecole.com/how-getting-laid-off-was-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-me-and-my-career/" target="_blank">How Getting Laid Off Was The Best Thing To Happen To Me And My Career</a></h4><p>A few months later, a friend and colleague reached out to me because her consulting firm was hiring for a specific position that she thought I would be perfect for. A few interviews later, I had a job offer for exactly $75,000 a year. And because I was starting to realize how powerful and worthy I was with all of the work I was putting into myself, I had the balls to ask for $80,000 - and the company accepted my counter-offer!!!!!</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xMjYxMzE3NC9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MTY5NjA5N30.PWrwFIDc_ENTrHJLDMbXlR4rgbRXlyq9VuHlocPxlPU/img.gif?width=980" id="8ed4d" width="500" height="281" data-rm-shortcode-id="540bb52936c55e52adb06c6788ab5954" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p>The day I went from working two jobs making $45,000 a year to $80,000 a year with one job was one of the most profound days of my life. I felt like I had won the lotto. I remember crying, overwhelmed with joy thinking, <em>How did this happen to someone like me?</em></p><p><div class="ad-tag">
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</div></p><h5>It happened because of all the changes I made in my life and within myself. They had paid off - literally.</h5><p>Once I started making $80,000, I knew I was on to something. So I set my next income goal: to earn more than $100,000 a year. And I wanted to own my own business.</p><p>After I set that goal, I kept focused on myself and on my growth because I knew my life had changed because I had changed. I did the necessary work on myself and had a higher sense of self-worth. And I delved even deeper into becoming the woman I knew I could be. I started attending online seminars and meditating as well as all of the other things I had been focusing on.</p><p><div class="ad-tag">
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</div></p><p>But as I grew, so did the challenges I had to face. I ended up getting unexpectedly laid off from that company after only a year of being with them. And I was devastated. I felt like I had just started making more than enough money to pay my bills and save.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xMjYxMzE3NS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzI4NTEzNH0.qczhNoVg7LTQs8jr0GQRZvA9JUWFuNVPIDfa4-h32QQ/img.gif?width=980" id="1defc" width="500" height="244" data-rm-shortcode-id="187b351da654b7b5e76ca95d87cdd786" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p><p><strong>And there I was jobless. </strong></p><p><a href="http://xonecole.com/how-getting-laid-off-was-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-me-and-my-career/" target="_blank">When I was laid off</a>, I was able to handle it like an adult. I never thought I could have handled something to awful with so much grace. But I chose to view it as an opportunity to create something even better in my life.</p><p>And it was.</p><p>Instead of taking any job that came my way to make ends meet, I continued to work on myself while scouring job boards for positions that fueled my passions. I envisioned myself in those positions, and after only six weeks without work, an opportunity came my way. It would allow me to start my own business and I would be earning over $150,000 a year. A friend and colleague knew my situation and put me in touch with the program manger of a big project she was part of who was looking for a consultant. After a few phone interviews, the gig was mine. I registered my business and started a bank account in my business name the next week!</p><p><div class="ad-tag">
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</div></p><h5>This was another profound, pivotal moment in my life. I had done it - again. I had achieved both goals within a year of setting them. But most importantly, I had evolved to the next level of myself and so I was ready for the next level of success.</h5><p>When I started working on myself, it was out of fear that I might never move out of that crappy house and that I would be stuck in a job I didn't like. Fear that I would live paycheck to paycheck for the rest of my life. Fear that I might never live the full life I knew was possible. Constantly focusing on that fear and what I didn't like about my life only attracted more fear and turmoil in my life. Once I changed my thinking, and started focusing more on the things I enjoyed, where I wanted to be, and how I was going to get there, my life started changing for the better.</p><p>And I've continued to work on myself, not because of the money, but because of the woman I continue to evolve to be. Once you are able to build your self-worth, it will allow you the security of knowing that you will never have to settle for less than what you truly deserve in all aspects of your life.</p><p><em>Brittney Pappano consults and advises businesses of all shapes and sizes, from Fortune 100 companies to life coaches to women with a big dreams. She's a self-made hustler determined to live her best life and to help other women do the same. Her saviors are books, yoga, Drake, and daydreaming. Connect with her on Facebook: Brittney.pappano, and Instagram: <a href="http://Instagram.com/Brittney_Pappano" target="_blank">@Brittney_pappano</a></em><br></p><p><em>Featured image by Getty Images.</em></p>
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