1 — It starts with a desire

Decide you want it and change your mindset

Every goal starts with a decision and a genuine desire to make it happen. You must decide you want it.

When there is no desire, there is no passion, no willpower to make it happen. If you cannot change your mindset, don’t read on, you will not follow through.

Once I decided I wanted to make it happen, it was easy to follow through with the rest of the plan.

2 — Identify your strengths

Competence is key.

Employers exchange money for your services. The greater the services you provide, the better your value.

First, you have to get really good in your field to get more money. You need to be better than average.

As a data scientist, I wanted to be top in my field to get the opportunities I desired. I knew I needed to be really good at programming, Statistics and other areas. I studied a lot.

The secret is that you need to be really good at something that you are naturally good at.

Once you identify your key strengths, you have to get better daily and be at the top in your field.

3 — Temptations will knock on your door — don’t be distracted

Don’t accept an offer with small raises prematurely during your planning and learning phase.

It’s easy to get distracted while slowly working your way up to upgrade your skills to earn more income. These days, you don’t have to look for distractions; they can come to you. Distractions are everywhere.

I remember getting contacted via LinkedIn by a recruiter wanting me to take up a job that would pay me 5–10% of my current pay. I declined. I knew I was not ready. I did not want to be distracted. I had a goal and was committed to working towards the plan to get what I really wanted.

4 — Recognise opportunities to grow

Your ability to continue to grow is critical to achieving the success you want. Your goal is to keep growing daily.

Recognise opportunities in your everyday life. Recognise opportunities when you meet a new network. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to grow and learn something new.

5 — Find the jobs and companies that pay what you want

You want a role that comes with a pay level. One of the most important things is to find the companies that pay what you want for these roles. You need to understand that not all companies will pay what you want depending on the sector and location.

I enjoyed this part because I love to research.

Once you have highlighted the companies that pay what you want for the role. You still need another compass. Can you guess what it is?

Job descriptions.

I recommend you read through the job description posted online by these companies at least once a week and save them in a designated folder.

Doing this will instil some of the requirements in your subconscious mind and always help you remember the key ingredients you need to advance your career.

The more compass you have, the better.

6— Surround yourself with people earning the income you want

It’s also a good idea to surround yourself with professionals already earning what you are planning to earn.

The idea is that you want to keep them around and observe some of their skills.

Soft and hard skills are crucial in the workplace, and while you can learn hard skills on your own, you can easily upgrade your soft skills by observing others.

Keeping those above you around you will help you learn the skills you need to become a better version of yourself. I started by observing my manager and the person one step above him.

Work towards being at your mentor’s skill level, and you will find yourself getting better not just with hard skills but with soft skills as well.

7— Create a plan, focus and follow-through

It’s easy to plan and imagine these beautiful things and plans you want to achieve. However, if there is no plan of action, nothing happens.

You need a plan to help you focus once you have decided to upgrade your pay. Start by breaking down what you need to do into several tasks. Then;

Create an action list.
Decide on the one most important item.
Start with this item.
Seat a deadline
Finish off
Rinse and repeat

I also encourage you to get a mentor in your field who know more than you do. This person will know what you need to get ahead and might point you to the right resources you need.

I was pretty lucky I had a great manager who always shared valuable resources with me, and it did help in my learning and development.

8— Evaluate yourself and ask for feedback

Check-in with yourself from time to time

Okay. You have spent the last couple of weeks following through on your plans. It’s also important to re-assess your skill every couple of months to evaluate your progress.

I often conduct this assessment by myself; however, you are welcome to chat with a mentor who is aware of your goals. Another way to get a sense of how you are doing is through your performance review at your job.

You can always adopt some of the feedback you receive at your job to improve yourself. If you are progressing with your learning goals and upgrading your skills, I guarantee that you will be doing equally well at work

Seeking feedback and learning areas you need to grow is critical for achieving your career goals. You do not want to spend months following the wrong path, only to realise when it might be too late.

9— Apply for the jobs and ace the interview

Don’t forget to sharpen your interviewing skills

Now that you have done all the work, it’s good to start applying to the jobs that pay what you want.

At this point, you already know the companies that pay what you want and the specific roles of interest.

You should have levelled up your hard and soft skills and have developed your skills. At this stage, your applications would be targeted since you know what you want.

You also want to sharpen your interviewing skills by practising and reading lots of interview resources. How well you do an interview depends on how well you can sell yourself. The interviews will soon come knocking. Always be prepared by practising.

10 — Stay motivated

Planning and applying to a job that pays what you want requires time and effort.

There is no guarantee that you will hear back from every job application you send, but the good news is that you have done an excellent job preparing yourself for these new opportunities.

Therefore, I encourage you to stay motivated no matter what. Keep moving and you will eventually get what you want.

How to stay motivated and keep going during a job hunt

I recently read the story of a young professional (let’s call him John) who had just completed his degree from a top…

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Final Summary

Getting the job with the desired pay is what everyone desires, but as you can probably see, it requires a lot of planning, self-development, and research.

The good news is that you can get better at your craft by being strategic. You might not see the immediate rewards after a day or week, but you would be amazed at how you have improved after about a year.

I doubled my income in my day job within 18 months by using the techniques I have shared with you. They work like magic.

The best part is that most of these strategies are simple and easy to implement, so there’s no reason not to get started if it is crucial for you.

Don’t listen to naysayers. Don’t get distracted, don’t be demotivated. Focus on yourself, look ahead, and map a plan to your destination.

It is possible.

Do it.