Secrets of Six-Figure Women
I found a gem at a bookstore recently and must share the valuable information I’m
learning. It’s the 8 common secrets that over 150 women making six figures (between $100,000 and $7 million a year) shared with author Barbara Stanny.
Let’s dive right in!
Secret 1-Financial Success Is Possible in Almost Any Field, and Lack of Education Doesn’t Have to Hold You Back. Yes, many women Stanny interviewed were M.B.A’s and Ph.D’s, but numerous also held a Bachelor of Arts, a two-year associate’s degree, no college degree at all or were high school drop-outs. The earliest drop out? 7th grade. Please re-read Secret #1.
Secret 2
Working Hard Doesn’t Mean Working All the Time. It’s the old adage, “working smarter, not harder.” Easy to say, hard to do. Stanny found the women she interviewed to be divided into two groups: The SHE’s, Successful High Earners, that pulled back when they found themselves out of balance between work and family, and the HHE’s (Hard-Driven High Earners) who’s work consumed them to the point of no sleep and emotional breakdowns. The HHE’s were eventually forced to re-think their workday and one recovered workaholic said, “I work very hard from nine to noon…if I’m efficient and focused, I don’t really need to put in all those hours.”
Secret 3
Focus on Fulfilling Your Values Rather Than Financial Gain. This secret is worth its weight in gold. It reminded me of a vision board I once had, with cutouts of printed money and every time I looked at it I couldn’t feel any excitement. That’s because if you focus on the money, you’ll never be happy. Instead, focus on the service, living your passion, the choices the money will give you and the people you will help with your dollars. That shift in vibration is enough to get you back on track and taking action towards your goals!
Secret 4
Loving What You Do Is Much More Important Than What You Do. There were few exceptions to this rule; women that hated their jobs but liked their income. Our lesson to take? If you’re not passionate about what you do, no matter what field it’s in, it can take the joy out of working and make work feel like work, rather than “fun, play, inspiration” as one woman described.
Secret 5
Feel the Fear. Have the Doubt. Go for It Anyway. Someone once told me that courage does not mean fearlessness. EVERY woman interviewed admitted to feeling inadequate, incompetent and fear—fear of failure, fear of rejection and fear of criticism. They just didn’t let the fear keep them frozen from taking action.
Secret 6
Think in Terms of Trade-offs, Not Sacrifices, to Find a Workable Equilibrium. It’s the answer to the question women have asked since entering the workforce, “How do you balance work and family?” They prioritized their values, set limits, didn’t bring work home, and certainly didn’t work on the weekends. Other women grew their business slowly to ensure they kept their focus on their family or one woman opened up a restaurant in her house to be near her kids! This secret reminds me of a quote from Estee Lauder, “Within each person is the potential to build the empire of her wishes, and don’t allow anyone to say you can’t have it all, You can-you can have it all…..”
Secret 7
Sometimes You Just Have to Shrug It Off and Have a Good Laugh. These six-figure women were not exempt to gender discrimination. One woman was referred by her male colleagues as “kind of a CEO” and another left behind by the company plane. Their secret for dealing with these serious offenses was to recognize the ignorance, not internalize the message and stay in their full power.
Secret 8
Appreciate Abundance. These women were not without stress or challenges, yet words they used to describe their lives included, “fortunate, lucky and blessed.” “Which is not to say that these successful earners don’t get down in the dumps or have attacks of negativity.” Stanny called many in the middle of meltdowns, yet when she followed up they were fully bounced back and recognize those moments as only temporary.
Stanny says through her research her major thesis was proved: “our state of mind, more than anything ‘out there,’ determines our level of success.” This book is full of exercises for the inner work of becoming a six-figure woman.
The author adds, “if there’s one message I hope you carry away from the book, it is this: We women have got to stop devaluing ourselves and demand what we’re worth.” Mindful Management agrees!