5 Reasons why you should negotiate your salary
- You cannot maximise the value that you get for yourself if you avoid negotiating.
I get it, negotiating is uncomfortable. And salary negotiations can be even more uncomfortable because what we're negotiating for is very personal to us. However, when we do not negotiate, we cannot maximise the value that we get for ourselves.
Why is that?
Well, it is very rare and highly unlikely that someone is going to put the best offer that they could give you on the table the very first time. So therefore, if you accept someone's first offer, you are accepting an offer that is not their best offer. And by doing so, you have not maximised the value that could have been available to you if you had negotiated.
- Not negotiating costs you much more than you think it does.
You might believe that when you negotiate the value that you get is a one-time gain or a one-time loss, but sadly you would be wrong.
Here’s why…
Say for example, you applied for a job, and you're offered it, and they're offering to pay you $100,000 which you accept. Another person applies for the same job, they are also offered it, but they negotiate, and they managed to secure an offer of $110,000.
Now you might think, “okay, great I’ve lost $10,000, it's not ideal, but I was happy to accept the role $100,000”.
Now, that differential of $10,000 isn't the only amount of money that you have lost, you have lost considerably more than that over time.
Why? Because that $10,000, say you didn't need it and it would have been extra disposable income, you could have easily put it into a bank account and earned interest on it over time. And not only would you have earned interest on it, if you kept adding to that amount over time with additional increases in your salary, the interest you earn on the money in the account would compound to significantly more money. As you keep adding money you earn more interest and its growth is compounding.
Now, the second issue is the fact that your subsequent salary increase is going to be based on your current base salary. So, if you get a 5% increase, it will be a 5% on $100,000, not 5% on $110,000, like the other person would get. So, you are limiting the amount of money you are getting in the future all because you didn't negotiate for your salary the first time. So please don’t settle for negotiating occasionally, you need to be negotiating more for yourself on every occasion. Why? because the long-term consequences of not negotiating are significant.
- Not negotiating slows your progression.
Now why do I say that? Well, if you are someone that waits to be noticed for all of the great work that you do, and you want someone else to acknowledge your value, your worth and your contribution, then it is likely that you are going to also wait for someone to offer you a promotion or the next opportunity to earn more money through additional responsibilities and/or taking on a new role.
Now, this doesn't necessarily have to be true, but it is highly correlated.
If you are someone that waits to be given the opportunities rather than actively being in charge of your own future and negotiating the value that you get for yourself, you are going to slow your progression over time versus someone who has the ability to get past their discomfort and negotiate for what they want, not only in salary terms but also in promotions, in job opportunities, in opportunities to get involved in new projects.
So, when you negotiate for your salary, you're building the same skill set that enables you to negotiate other things that allow you to move forward in your career.
- By not negotiating your salary, you can end up damaging your self-esteem.
How? Because over time when you don’t negotiate it is more likely that you won’t be getting the value that you feel you deserve.
Now, if this is a consistent theme over time, the weight of you consistently not getting what you feel you deserve, in exchange for what you feel you are contributing to the business is going to wear you down.
It will breed resentment, and you might not want to let that resentment show. You end up holding that resentment inwards. And internally you have this narrative will take you down a thought spiral of …. “I'm clearly not good enough. I'm not worthy. People aren't noticing me; I'm not getting the recognition I deserve. Other people are getting paid more than me, they're moving ahead at a much faster rate. And they're getting opportunities that I know I am deserving of, but I'm not getting them. What's wrong with me?”
It's not that there is anything wrong with you. It's because over time you have conditioned yourself to not ask for what you want. And therefore, that is going to damage your self-esteem because you've told yourself time and time again, that what you want doesn't matter and therefore you don’t matter.
So, by asking for your salary to be increased, when you have the opportunity to negotiate, you are internally giving yourself the narrative that I am valuable, that I matter, and I deserve more.
- Not negotiating holds you back from opportunities to enrich your life and your happiness.
Why?
Because if you are not negotiating your salary, you are also not practicing asking for what you want in all areas of your life: opportunities to do more of what fills your cup, taking time off, or asking for what you need at home, or asking to see what is possible for you by making an ambitious request that tells people what is important to you.
When you make the ask, you can enrich your life in lots of different ways. Whether it’s by negotiating a complimentary bottle of wine at a hotel you’re staying at because it's your birthday or perhaps by getting time off your job to do volunteering work while still getting paid.
By making asks you are practicing building the muscle of negotiating and by negotiating your salary you gain more confidence and the courage to see how effective you can be in negotiating more of what you want in other areas of your life.
To summarise why you should negotiate your salary:
- You maximise the value you get for you
- You leverage the power of compound growth
- You progress faster in your career
- You build confidence and cement your self-worth
- You enrich your life and get more of what makes you happy
If you’re ready to start negotiating your salary but need help, then go to www.mysalarynegotiation.com – in less than two hours you’ll have everything you need to get started and maximise your outcome.
