Setting a Goal

• Establishing a clear-cut goal is the first step in growing your income. "Increase my income" is not specific enough. "Increase my income by 10 percent every year for the next five years" is a specific goal. To develop the goal, figure out why you want the extra income. Is it to help pay for a child's college education? Is it to save up for a new car or boat? Or is it to keep you from living paycheck to paycheck? Knowing why you want that extra income helps you establish how much more income you actually need.
  
  

Resources & Capabilities

• The next step in developing an income growth plan is to list your personal resources and capabilities and compare them to what is needed to reach your income growth goal. Let's say your goal is to increase your income 10 percent every year for the next five years. What resources and capabilities do you have to make that happen? If your current job gives you a 5 percent raise every year then you only need to make another 5 percent to reach your goal. Since time is considered a resource, do you have enough of it to take on a second job or do some freelance work to make up the difference? Is it possible to increase your hours, commissions or bonus at work? If that is not possible then the next step is to readjust your goal or see if there is another route you can take.
  
  

Improving Resources & Capabilities

• Radical income growth plans often require radical changes. Most of these changes come from improving your personal resources and capabilities. Further education is one way to increase your ability to grow your income. An advanced degree can open many doors and lead the way to higher rungs on the corporate ladder. Another option is to develop a business plan, acquire funding and launch a new enterprise. This entails a huge amount of risk but you are in full control of how much income you can provide for yourself. A less drastic option would be to hop over to a company that allows for greater upward movement or a system of compensation that you have more control over. It's not easy to make a drastic change but it is often required if you have set an aggressive goal for your income growth plan.