WHETHER YOU OWN YOUR OWN company or work for someone else, you can earn more than you now earn. The first question to ask yourself is “Am I providing a product or service that is both wanted and needed?” When the answer is yes, you can earn more money by increasing either the quality or the quantity of your service.

The hardest part of increasing your service is thinking up ways to do it. Sure, if you work faster and put in more hours, you will increase your service. And if you take more care and pay more attention to your work, you will certainly increase the quality. Those are obvious. But there will come a time when these things cannot be increased any more: There are only twenty-four hours in a day, there are physical limits to how fast you can move, and you can give no more attention to your work once you are giving it all your attention.

But it is possible to think of other ways to increase your service. It will only take some thinking. Sit down ten different times in the next month and each time think up three different ways you could increase your service. Allow your imagination to go wild. At the end of the month, pick the best one and do it.

Another thing you can do to increase your earnings is to read books and listen to tapes related to your line of work, your health, or your ability to deal with people. Learn more about these three topics and it will help you earn more.

The first subject to study is the specific area or industry you work in. Every field has a history. How did it start? Who were the principle originators? And that’s just the beginning. The libraries and bookstores are full of books and tapes and videotapes on every conceivable subject. Study not only background, but also information that will make you better at your job. Take night classes. Listen to tapes in your car. Educate yourself. As you learn, you become more of an expert. Generally speaking, the more of an expert you are in your field, the more useful you are. And the more useful you are, the more money you can make.

Learning ways to increase your level of health will help you in two ways: First, your level of energy is closely tied to your level of health, and you can do more work with a high energy level. Second, when you have better health, you tend to have better relationships with people. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to be nice to people when you feel like hell? Our health affects our moods, and our moods affect our relationships with others. And people who get along well with others, according to the research, make more money than those who don’t. Their relationships are better with their bosses and with their assistants. They get more cooperation and consideration. In the long run, this adds up to more money.

Which brings us to the third area to study: people. As far as I can tell, there is no final attainment in this area. I’ve been actively improving my ability to deal with people for about twenty-two years now (and I was pretty good when I started), and I’m nowhere near as good as I could be. In other words, I can profitably continue to improve my ability to deal with people for the rest of my life, and I’ll bet the same is true for you.

Learn about your line of work, read up on how to maintain good health, and constantly practice the fine art of dealing with people. These are lifetime studies. And do the hard work of thinking up ways to increase the quantity and quality of the service you provide. Do these things and you will earn more money.