Pillar 1: Value Creation Over Task Completion
Traditional productivity focuses on crossing off to-do items. Income-focused productivity asks: "What's the dollar value of this task?"
Exercise: The $10 vs $10,000 Task Audit
List your activities from last week. Assign each a hypothetical hourly rate: - $10/hour tasks: Data entry, scheduling, basic emails - $100/hour tasks: Analysis, problem-solving, team coordination - $1,000/hour tasks: Strategy, innovation, relationship building - $10,000/hour tasks: Decisions that impact revenue, negotiations, vision setting
If you're spending more than 20% of your time on $10/hour tasks, you're leaving money on the table.
Pillar 2: Visible Impact Over Hidden Excellence
Excellence in isolation doesn't pay. Your work needs witnesses—specifically, witnesses who influence compensation decisions.
The Visibility Multiplier Effect:
When software developer Lisa T. solved a critical system bug, she could have: - Option A: Fixed it quietly and moved on - Option B: Fixed it and mentioned it in her weekly team meeting - Option C: Fixed it, documented the solution, presented the fix to leadership, and created a prevention protocol
Lisa chose Option C. The CFO learned her quick thinking saved the company $400,000 in potential downtime. Her next raise? 18% instead of the standard 3%.
Pillar 3: Leverage Over Linear Effort
Linear effort means your input directly equals your output. If you work twice as hard, you achieve twice as much. This model has a ceiling.
Leveraged effort multiplies your impact: - Through systems: Create once, benefit repeatedly - Through people: Enable others to amplify your work - Through strategic positioning: Put yourself where impact is highest
Case Example: The Template That Paid
Rachel K., a project manager, spent 15 hours creating comprehensive project templates and training materials. This upfront investment: - Saved her team 5 hours per project - Improved project success rate by 30% - Was adopted company-wide
Result: Rachel became known as the "efficiency expert." Her income increased from $72,000 to $115,000 when she was promoted to Director of Project Management Office.