During the course of this blog, we’ve written about the power and influence of our self-image, how we see ourselves.  Self-image is also key to our earning power.

Over the years I have mentored, formally and informally, many people who expressed interest in getting ahead in their professional lives. However, wanting to get ahead and doing the things necessary to do so are two entirely different things.

I found it interesting that a greater number of people don't strive for more of what they could have in life. Let’s use financial income as an example.

Studies have shown that a person's income is controlled significantly by how much the person wants to make. Sounds somewhat ridiculous but it's true in most cases. Over the years I’ve known people who wanted to have a greater income but missed so much work. These absents were not due to illness or family emergencies but limited their ability to increase their income.

In one study, a leading company actually raised the commission level for their sales force so that their salespeople could earn more money.  I’m sure you can speculate what happened?

While the company was expecting higher sales due to the opportunity they had provided to their staff to earn more, the opposite actually happened. Sales volume actually went down to the level that had the sales people earning almost exactly what they had earned the previous year! It was as if the sales force had a governor or limit limiter) set that controlled how much they would earn.

This company would have done much better for itself if it would have worked with the sales people to change their self-image and not offer the enticement of higher commissions. You see it's our self-image that makes all of the difference.  Self-image is the key or the critical success factor for success.

We get what we expect, nothing more and nothing less. As we move forward in 2013 and beyond, it's a good time to think about where our governor, limit, or paradigm is set for the year ahead.  Better yet, completely remove the paradigm from our mind set.

Think about it.