Give Yourself a Raise

Erin was a frazzled business owner running a Pilates studio—with two kids at home. She worked nonstop but never had enough money. Each month was so tight. Sometimes, she had just enough to cover her expenses. Other times, not even that.

After developing a splitting headache that wouldn’t go away, she landed in the hospital and found out she had a serious condition. Her brain and spinal cord were inflamed due to a viral infection. And, her immune system was impaired due to chronic stress. Her doctor pleaded with her to stop working for a while and go on bedrest.

While she resisted at first (“I can’t afford to stop working, not even for a couple days!”) she ultimately relented. She recognized that her health must come first—for her sake, and for her daughters’ sake too.

This unexpected pause gave Erin space to re-evaluate her entire business—and life.

She realized that she’d been severely undercharging her clients, which kept her trapped in a cycle of overworking and underearning.

She had an epiphany: “I need to give my business a complete makeover.” Step one? Raising her prices.

She crunched the numbers and figured out a new pricing model—one that would be sustainable. She rolled out the new pricing to her clients. She confronted her worst fears (“Nobody will pay these higher prices,” “My clients will abandon me and go somewhere cheaper”) but vowed to stick with her plan anyway. “This is not optional. It has to be done.”

Thanks to these changes, the Pilates studio shifted from struggling to thriving. Finally, she could work less, earn more, and had space to breathe. Later, she sold the studio for 40x her original investment. (Round of applause for this savvy CEO!)

In life, often, there’s one glaring issue that we don’t want to confront. It’s like a flat tire. Even if the rest of the car is perfectly fine—with a flat tire? It’s not going to run optimally. Or at all.

For Erin, the flat tire was pricing. She was charging too little, which meant she needed to work longer hours to make ends meet, which meant she exhausted herself, which led to a health crisis. It took tremendous courage, but she eventually confronted this issue, fixed it, and got the car cruising like never before.

What is your flat tire?

It could be pricing. It could be clutter. Over-committing and stuffing your schedule to the gills. Compulsively scrolling on your phone. Or another financial, emotional, mental, physical, or relationship pattern that you do not want to look at.

Imagine what would happen if you confronted this flat tire and made a plan to resolve it. It would bring immediate relief into your life. It might change everything.

Erin’s story reminds me that transformation is possible at any time. Flat tires can be repaired. People do it every day.

No matter how bleak things seem right now, it’s never too late to make the changes you should’ve made years ago.

Your story is not over yet.

-Alex

PS. Erin told me, “I want to write a book” and asked if I’d be her writing coach and editor on the project. After hearing her story, I joyfully agreed. Her book is called Give Yourself a Raise: The Mindset and Math You Need to Get to Your First Million.

If you wonder, “Why don’t I have enough money?” “Will people still hire me if I charge more?” “But what should I charge, anyway?!” … read this book or listen to the audiobook.