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This is the ninth installment of my journey through Soul Dancer’s free Pay Me What I’m Worth course sampler. If you missed any shows, its all good! Click here to access the entire series.

Video Response

Chapter Eight: Performance Based Contracts

Do you think changing the rules in the middle of the game fair?

When I was in Junior High, they assembled all the students into the auditorium to explain to us the annual magazine sales drive. Before the presentation started, a man came up to me and asked me if I would help him with the presentation. I said, “Yes.” So he handed me a card with a “W” on it.

About halfway through the presentation, my time to help came up. In front of the entire school, he asked me what was on the card he gave me. When I told him “W,” he looked up the prize and it turned out I had won a set of flashing Disco lights. I was excited! He said that I was to claim my prize when they distributed the prizes at the end of the week.

Friday came and I dutifully stood in line to claim my prize. When I got to the head of the line, I handed the person my card with the “W” on it and … was handed a Spiderman ball-point pen.

Needless to say, I was dejected and sulked out of the auditorium. My friends, who were waiting for me to show them my fancy new Disco lights were incensed and trotted me back into the auditorium to make me get my Disco lights.

I got them, and they brought me much happiness for a couple of decades. But this taught me a lesson about marketing and performance-based contracts.

Turns out, they handed out cool prizes at the presentation to motivate us to sell magazines. But those prizes were much harder to come by than it appeared.

In Chapter 8 of Pay Me What I’m Worth, Souldancer discusses Performance Based Contracts and how they permeate our everyday lives. The Chapter also provides an exercise where you can develop your own based on a simple four-part blueprint:

1. Task
2. Rule
3. Reward
4. Penalty

I’m willing to bet that right now you have an unwritten, possibly even unspoken performance based contract with yourself. Are you trying to reach a goal? Maybe release a few pounds? Enroll a few clients? Sell a few books or products? Why not take a moment to actually write down your agreement with yourself? I’ll wait.

 
OK, what does your performance based contract look like? Here’s one that I have with myself:

1. Task – Achieve my goal weight by September 2015
2. Rule – I’ll eat healthfully, incorporating more raw and fresh foods into my diet
3. Reward – I’ll look and feel fantastic and, eventually, fit into that Mandarin dress I inherited from my grandmother again
4. Penalty – I’ll feel bad about myself, be stressed out

Did I consciously come up with that contract before I started on my journey toward that goal? No. But that contract was there anyway.

When you do the exercise in Chapter 8 of Pay Me What I’m Worth, you’ll understand the power of performance-based contracts and learn how to wield them in your favor.

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Coming up in future installments of this journey:

• October 23 – Chapter 9: Ethics & Integrity
• October 30 – Chapter 10: Gratitude Guidelines

Explore Your Worth and Become the Master of Your Life

I’m now accepting applications for the next Pay Me What I’m Worth group, which is 12 payments of $149, paid monthly. Learn more and register today at bitly.com/payspence! Together with author of Pay Me What I’m Worth Soul Dancer, we’ll take a 12-month dive into owning your worth and increasing your confidence.

Remember, not everyone will be accepted into the course. You must schedule an exploratory session with me first to determine if you are a good fit for this group at this time.

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Are you are wondering what this 12-month class can do for you? Listen to what previous students have had to say about Soul’s Pay Me What I’m Worth Master Class.

Anna Banguilan on Performance-Based Contracts (1:50):

Elaine O’Malley on increased confidence in her business (0:43):

Stuart Young on uncovering more confidence than he thought possible (1:59):

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