Supercoach - Michael Neill [65]
Here’s the simple rule of thumb:
Anywhere there is a positive difference to be made,
there is money to be made.
If you can’t (or won’t) make any difference,
you’re unlikely to make very much money.
How Much Should I Charge?
Some people think the limit on what they can charge has to do with their self-worth, but in fact it simply has to do with what they’re willing to ask for. You’ll almost never be paid more than you ask for, regardless of how much or how little you happen to believe you’re worth.
I’ve found that most people I work with have a number in their heads that can be accessed with a little prodding.
If you or someone you know isn’t sure what to charge for something, play the “higher/lower” game.
Choose any number to start and ask, “Is it [this number]?”
The only three acceptable answers are “Higher,” “Lower,” or “That’s it!”
Keep going until you’ve determined the perfect price for you.
What’s great about this is that you never have to worry about getting it wrong. If it’s too much, the marketplace will tell you by not giving you as much business as you want; if it’s too little, you’ll know because you’ll be swamped!
2. Make yourself a “scarce resource.” Stuart Wilde used to regale us for hours with stories of gas-station attendants who would attract customers from miles around with their five-star-hotel-quality toilets, or purveyors of knickknacks who made hundreds of thousands of dollars from people who wanted to “take home a little piece of the store.”
His point was always to begin your quest for wealth by working on yourself—your energy, your skills, and your well-being. “As you become more and more skilled in what you do and happier and happier in yourself,” Stuart would say, “people will be drawn to you. They will want to spend time hanging out in your energy. And when they show up—bill ’em!”
The point is this:
As long as you see money as a scarce resource,
you will continually inconvenience yourself in
order to get it. As soon as you have made
yourself the scarce resource, the money will
inconvenience itself to get you.
In a nutshell:
• Your well-being is not dependent on your bank balance.
• Financial security doesn’t come from the amount of money you currently have; it comes from your ability to get more of it whenever you want.
• Master the art of serving others and you’ll secure your financial future.
• Don’t need the money.
We’re almost done! Feel free to reread this chapter or go back through any of the sessions and secrets we’ve covered up until now.
When you’re ready, there’s one more session to be had. . . .
SESSION TEN
The Power of Hope
“All dreams appear impossible until
someone makes them happen.”
— Barry Neil Kaufman
Throwing Starfish
A man was walking along the beach after a storm when he came across an old woman throwing starfish that had washed up onshore back into the sea.
When he asked her what she was doing, she said she’d always wanted to make a difference and had decided that today was a good day to begin.
The man looked from her to the thousands of starfish that lay dying along the coastline and said, “For every starfish you throw back into the ocean, three more wash up onto the shore! How can you possibly be making a difference?”
The woman looked thoughtful for a moment; then she picked up another starfish and threw it back into the sea.
She smiled. “Made a difference to that one.”
What One Person Can Do
“Argue for your limitations, and sure
enough, they’re yours.”
— Richard Bach
My friend and mentor Bill Cumming has lived what I consider to be an extraordinary life. After more than 15 years of campaigning in the civil-rights movement and creating a number of programs for individual and team empowerment (including the pilot for the program now known as Upward Bound), his life changed forever when his nine-year-old daughter, Joy, was raped just a few hundred yards from his Ohio home.
At that moment, Bill realized he was fully capable of the kind of violence he had spent so many years campaigning against,