8 Stories of People Who Doubled Their Income

He Demonstrated His Value to His Employers

John, the co-founder of How To FIRE, increased his income more than five-fold over five years. He started out at a retail job making $17,000 per year. From there, he transitioned to an online retail position, making $40,000 per year. He then transitioned to a software engineering job making just shy of $70,000 per year. Now, three years later, he’s making over $100,000 per year.

“I didn’t understand my worth to the companies that I was working for until halfway through job two,” he said. “I began to understand how greatly I was impacting their earnings. Being in a position to prove your worth to a company has drastically increased my pay every year. I’m always looking to find ways to add additional value or reduce costs — which in turn makes me stand apart from my peers. Having a focused work ethic and knowing where I want to be has allowed me to apply myself in the areas that matter most.”

Why This Worked

“Once I started to realize how adding value to a company puts me in a position to show them my worth, I was never hesitant to ask for a raise,” said John. “It’s difficult to tell someone ‘no’ when you can prove to them exactly how much value you bring, or how much you’ve reduced their costs by.”