We all have one person who comes into our lives and, for whatever reason, we decide to implement what they share. For me, that was Shane Rudman.
The “how” we become connected is long, and what Shane would clearly say is a “God moment,” but I’m glad I listened!
Over the last three years, I’ve learned to apply three simple lessons from Shane that have allowed me to increase my income from $155,000 a year to over $565,000 a year (and growing). It took me 11 years of 50+ hour work weeks to get to that $155,000, with several stops and starts along the way. I share this with you because I know there’s a good chance you feel stuck at whatever level you’re at right now and know you’re meant for more. As you’ll see, you are.
The three things I learned from Shane are:
1. It is time to raise your belief in your income ability
2. It is possible to be a Christian and be successful
3. Only look for “Properly Prepared People” who are ready to hear your message
Lesson 1 - It was time to raise my belief in my income ability
I needed to increase my definition of “high income” and the amount I believed I was worthy of earning each year.
I used to think that if I made $250,000 a year in income, I was set. It was the pinnacle and the threshold that meant I had “made it.” Without knowing it, I had closed off anything higher in my head and, essentially, made that level my ceiling.
I remember seeing Shane speak at a non-profit event and thought, “Wow, if he’s doing all of that, he’s gotta be making at least $250,000 a year.” Turns out, Shane hasn’t made that little since he was in his early 20s, but that’s where my mindset was at during that point in time!
Luckily, Shane helped me reset my “financial thermostat” - the level of income that I deem myself worthy of and comfortable attaining. $250,000 quickly became my income floor, not my ceiling, even though I wasn’t there yet. I began to see myself as a “$250,000 a year guy” and accepted that I worked hard, knew my stuff, and was good at my work. There was no reason I wasn’t worth that.
This “released the brake” I had on the belief in myself and my income started to grow. Each time my income increased, I reset my threshold, turned up my financial thermostat, and believed I was worthy of that level, and it worked. (And still is).
Since then, I’ve learned that the marketplace doesn’t lie. If you’re getting paid something consistently, you’ve earned it. And if you’re not there yet, if there’s someone else in your position earning more than you, you are worthy of it, too. As long as you believe you are deserving of it, you will earn it, keep it, and keep raising the bar.
If you want to start increasing the income level you see yourself worthy of (and which will eventually become your new earnings floor), get around people who are making more than you. It sounds simple, but as we’ve all probably heard, “your network is your net worth.” Being around higher earners will show first that it’s possible, and second that they really don’t have some secret package of goods or skills that you don’t have. You’ll quickly find that they accept you and find you worthy. As that happens, you’ll start seeing yourself as worthy, too.
Lesson 2 - It is possible to be a Christian and be successful
It’s OK to be successful as a Christian because it’s what God wants for His people.
Even after spending time listening to Shane and “upping my network,” I still felt guilty about making money and being successful. In my head, it felt stupid because I believed I was worthy of the additional income, but I still let my past and faulty beliefs about my faith get in the way.
From as young as I can remember, I’ve always held a belief that being wealthy and successful wasn’t consistent with being a “good Christian.” Even though I knew it wasn’t logical, and I knew many “good” people that were successful and Christian, I had that nagging feeling that money was bad, seeking wealth was greedy, and aiming for success meant I wasn’t humble.
I think a lot of us believers run into this at some point in our lives, and it’s truly backward. Shane walked me through the reality of this idea and taught me that God wants us to WIN! When he explained it, it made a ton of sense.
See, as Christians, one of our core duties is to bring more people to Christ. If we are going to do that, we need to be attractive to others, and being a winner is simply more attractive than not being a winner. Shane made a point (as he does in his #1 best-selling book, God Wants YOU to WIN!) that winning may or may not mean wealth. It’s about winning at whatever you are called to do because that makes you attractive, and people follow and do business with attractive people.
This goes hand-in-hand with the first lesson. If your mind is held back by much of the way we’re taught to think about money, it’s going to be really hard to turn up your “financial thermostat.” If instead, you understand and believe God Himself wants you to win, it’s a lot easier to see yourself worthy of earning more.
If you want to turn up your financial thermostat, accept that God really does want YOU to win. If you’ve ever had a thought that you weren’t perfectly in line with your calling, there’s nothing more freeing than understanding you are designed to win and are worthy of it. If you want to know more, the opening of Shane’s book, God Wants YOU to WIN! will tell you all you want to know, plus a lot of other valuable things, too.
Lesson 3 - Only look for “Properly Prepared People” who are ready to hear your message
Stop trying to convince people who aren’t ready to really hear what you have to say, and instead focus your energy on those who are.
After I turned up my “financial thermostat” and knew I was called to win, I still struggled with how to actually grow my income. It turns out the answer I needed came from Shane and was exactly what he’s been doing for 25+ years, so I decided to implement it: Only focus on those who are “Properly Prepared People.”
Properly Prepared People (PPPs) are those who are ready, for whatever reason, to hear your message. They are ready to buy, join, contribute, etc. In other words, they are the people who are looking for you, whether either of you knows it yet or not.
I thought it sounded good when I really thought about it, but I needed to make it more concrete and specific to my business to actually be able to implement it. I was also scared that it would eliminate too many people because, after all, how many buyers are really out there who are “ready” to work with me without needing to be convinced? I quickly learned that, in fact, it is a lot, I just needed to narrow down what I could offer them.
So I broke down exactly who I could connect with professionally, and in a way that really stood out. There were several options, but the easiest and “low-hanging fruit” was people who believed the same things I did about my business. (I’m in wealth management and financial advice). That group of people is those who believe that your values and your investment could align and produce a better result on multiple fronts.
I took that shared belief and started looking for the people who were looking for that same solution. I connected with dozens of people who could refer me to their clients, friends, and people they know who wanted to invest their assets in alignment with their values and make sure they weren’t unintentionally funding the things they disagreed with in their personal life.
In doing that, it not only created interest in the minds of the people who would refer me (many of whom were interested), but it quickly allowed me to shift from the “seller” to the “buyer.” In other words, instead of chasing after people and trying to convince them what I was doing was right, I simply went “shopping” for those that were likely to believe the same thing. I went looking for PPPs.
When we had our initial conversation, I simply shared what I believed and asked them if they believed the same thing. The PPPs all did. The non-PPPs did not. From there, I would continue on with the PPPs and let them know what I did as a result of those beliefs, letting them know to “raise their hand” along the way if they were interested.
That was the key that not only shot my income up but also reduced my stress significantly. I finally felt like I knew what to do and who to share it with, all without having to worry about convincing anyone and everyone I met that I could help them. It took the pressure off of both me and them.
Looking back, and seeing how Shane has done it so well for so many years, it seems obvious! Only go after those who are already, for whatever reason, prepared to do business with you. This was the most freeing thing I’ve learned in over 16 years in business, but it wouldn’t be nearly as effective if I hadn’t first raised my “financial thermostat” and grew in my belief that God wanted me to win.
It all seems so simple, and it really is, even though it’s contrary to what many teach in business, sales, and success. All I know is that if these lessons have worked for me (and the thousands of others Shane’s shared them with over the years), it’ll work for you, too!
Conclusion
For a lot of years, until I learned the above lessons, I would classify work (and sometimes life) as stressful and confusing. I suspected I could do a lot better, but without a good understanding of what “better” really was and why I was worthy, capable, and designed to do so, I was stuck.
I’m grateful that I learned what I have from Shane, as having the right mindset and understanding freed me to focus on the “how” of growing my income. For me, and as I’ve learned, many others, the answer was throwing out the “try to convince everyone” philosophy and instead concentrate only on finding and serving Properly Prepared People - the ones that are ready to hear what you have to say and that, likely, believe the same things you do.
We’re all made to do incredible things and our best days are ahead of us. No matter where you are now, know that God wants you to win and turn up your own “financial thermostat.” Find out who your Properly Prepared People are and let them know what you believe and what you’ve created for them because of that belief, and you’ll be on your way.
Let’s go!
PS - Thank you, Shane!
Andy Garrison
andy@andy-garrison.com