Money does not give you power. Power comes from the choices you make. That’s a very important distinction.
Not all high earners are powerful women.
Successful women fall into two groups. The Successful High Earners and the Hard-driven High Earners.
The hard-driven ones I describe as superwomen on steroids, classic workaholics. They’ll breakdown before they’ll slow down.
These are not powerful women. In fact, they have more in common with underearners than their higher paid peers. They live in deprivation…not necessarily of money, but time, joy, freedom, and control of their life.
One of the defining characteristics of Successful High Earners is that they actually take time for relaxation and self-reflection, to figure out what is really important. Their decisions are based, not on fear, but on their most cherished values.
I remember talking to a woman who went to a workshop where she was asked this question:
If you were on your deathbed, looking back at your life, what would make you feel happiest and satisfied with how you lived?
From the answers she gave to the question, came a list of her top 5 values.
Soon after, a friend asked her to be on the board of a business he was starting in China. The meetings would be all expense paid weekends in San Francisco. There was a time she would’ve jumped at the chance but, she realized, Chinese business wasn’t one of her priorities.
“It would’ve been fun,” she told me. “I would’ve met interesting people, but it would’ve taken me away from my partner, the book I was writing, all those things that are really important.
Have you looked at your top values lately? Are you living your priorities? Tell me about it in the comments below.
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