If you’re looking to accomplish something BIG in your career or in your life, narrowing your focus will help you get there every single time. Your focus is the key to accomplishing more. It’s not so much about the number of tasks we complete, but rather if we successfully accomplish every goal we set by making sure we’re focused on the right things at the right time.
Most of us set a lot of goals in multiple areas, but the reality is that we can’t focus on more than one thing at a time. Oprah might have made it seem like we should all strive to be excellent multitaskers, but more often than not, multitasking won’t help you stay focused and isn’t helping you achieve everything you want in your career, or perhaps even in your life.
If you want to achieve more, then limit the amount of goals you’re striving to hit and the number of projects you’re trying to work on. Working on one goal allows us to give it all of our effort in terms of energy, time, and concentration. Each time we add a goal, however, that same effort gets split amongst every one, making them more difficult to achieve and even elongating the amount of time it will take to achieve each one. This often leaves us overwhelmed, resulting in a lot of tasks left undone. When this happens, our lack of success in these areas actually lowers our confidence.
When we have too many things on our plate, it clouds our minds, making it difficult to understand what we should be working on because everything seems like it’s the priority.
If you want to successfully accomplish your goals, then reduce the number of goals you want to reach.
Focusing on one goal or task at a time will give you a higher chance of actually achieving it.
Here are some things to consider before asking for a raise:
1. How long has it been since your last raise or promotion? If it has been less than 6-9 months, you might be asking too frequently.
2. Understand the market value for your position. Good sites to research the market value of your position include Indeed.com, Payscale.com, and Glassdoor.com. You can use their salary locators to look up your area and job title to find the average pay for your area as well as the national average for that position. Using this research will help you see if you’re being underpaid. You don’t have to use these numbers when asking for a raise, but it’s a good tool to build your case. You can also talk to your employer/HR department and see if they have pay ranges for certain positions.
Another option is to join a community or Facebook group filled with people who are in the same line of work as you. These groups are perfect for asking questions regarding the average salary for your position. If this is the route you’re taking, be sure to ask a variety of people, not just one. Asking these questions is going to help you understand what others are making with your qualifications in your specific industry and will hopefully give you the confidence boost you need to ask for what you deserve.
3. Anytime you approach your boss, make sure the lowest number you’re asking for is the one you’d be satisfied making. More often than not, bosses will go with the lower number or you’ll have to negotiate up. Give them a range to work with.
4. Anytime you go in to ask for a raise, ensure you have a promotion plan ready; it’s always better than walking in empty-handed. Visit maryguirovich.com and learn how to put one together yourself so you can be ready for your next promotion!
