Here are 7 positive negotiation affirmations you need this year. This year is different. This year we are making big changes. They’ve already begun. The year is young. There’s tons of time to adopt what’s important.
Read more for the 7 positive negotiation affirmations you need to adopt today, this week, this month, this year and in the years to come. We have the power to create change. Check out the negotiation affirmations below to start.
7 Negotiation Affirmations
- I know my worth.
- Worth: I have the courage to ask for my worth.
- I make negotiation a regular practice.
- Money: I talk about money and negotiation.
- I encourage others to advocate for their worth.
- Advocate: I advocate for others
- I hold people and institutions accountable for their contribution to fair pay practices.
1: I know my worth
Stand in your power with this negotiation affirmation. Make sure you know your worth. Regularly take note and keep track of all the value you add. Keep a list of work wins (and life wins). Go back to them and remind yourself of your worth and all the value you provide to your employer, to those around you, to the world.
Check out this post to pinpoint your qualities to help identify it:
3 Easy Steps to Promote Yourself in a Negotiation
2. I have the courage to ask for my worth
Do it scared. Work up the courage and make the ask. It’s okay to be nervous, to have jitters or to be completely terrified of the act. It’s not only okay, it’s actually normal.
Do this negotiation affirmation scared. After you do it once, it won’t seem so daunting. After you do it twice, less so. And then you’ll know you can do it every time.
As Stacey Abrams said, “Self doubt is often driven by fear and I believe in the legitimacy of fear. We are extorted, especially women in business, that you’re supposed to be fearless. That is the dumbest advice. Because fears are real” (Abrams, Women at Work, 2022). In other words, do it scared.
3. I make negotiation a regular practice
After you did it scared, make this negotiation affirmation a normal practice. The first time it’s scary s hell. The second time, it still feels hard, but not as hard as the first time. After that, you’re golden. Getting nervous is normal, but now you know you can do it. After that, you know you can do it every time. You’re not afraid of no. The alternative is much worse – not asking in the first place.
For more tips on different negotiation methods, check out the post, “What Are the Best and Worst Methods for Negotiating?”
4. I talk about money and negotiation
We are done keeping it a secret. That doesn’t serve us. It never did. It served the company. Now that we know that, we’re making changes. This is the negotiation affirmation where you take it one step further.
Don’t just share your salary. Take it further. Share your salary trajectory. Where you started. When you negotiated. For how much. How much you asked for. How much you received. Each increase. Each promotion.
We need everyone to start sharing. If companies won’t do their own pay audits, we need to do them ourselves. Share your salary. Either you’ll be helped or you’ll help someone else out. Better yet, you’ll both benefit. Think of the people you’ll impact by sharing. Think of the people who need this information. As a result of you sharing, others will feel more comfortable sharing, too.
Why are we keeping it such a secret anyway? Is it because we’ve been trained/ intimidated by companies to stay silent to benefit them? (leading question)
When we start sharing our numbers, we all benefit. We can see who’s on top and why. We can see who’s underpaid. Since companies won’t do their own pay audits numbers, we’ll do them instead.
Check out the article “How Much Money Do You Make?” 5 Easy Ways to Ask Coworkers for more tips on how to talk about money at work.
5. I encourage others to advocate for their worth
I learned that I could ask for more because one of my coworkers said they were asking for more. Career reminder: When you ask for more, you’re teaching people about your worth and you’re teaching others about their worth.
Asking for more is important work. It not only teaches the other party what you’re worth, it teaches those around you to stand up for themselves, too. As a result of my coworkers standing up for their worth, I knew I could stand up for mine, too.
Your actions are powerful. Don’t doubt the impact of your actions.
6. I advocate for others
Are you mentioning people in rooms they aren’t in? Are you singing praises of amazing accomplishments they’ve done?
Let’s make uplifting each other a normalized part of the workplace. Be their hype person when they’re not there. Don’t know a lot about their work wins and successes? Ask them. And share yours, too. Be their hype person and they can be yours. When we give one another the praise we need and deserve, we become an unstoppable force.
7. I hold people and institutions accountable for their contribution to fair pay practices
This negotiation affirmation is key. Accountability on a systemic level is overdue. We need to hold leaders, companies & systems accountable for their contributions to our paychecks which in turn impacts our everyday lives. It all counts and it all matters.
Change is now. Make your voice heard at the organizational level. Ask your company about pay transparency, ask them why they don’t have it, add it to the anonymous feedback forms, put it on the culture surveys, bring it up to your boss, bring it up in a meeting, bring it up at your review, bring it up in a virtual meeting or in the lounge, ask about pay transparency in your interviews. Keep making noise about a company’s pay practices. Accountability and transparency are overdue.
Take it further.
Vote for candidates who prioritize fair pay. Write to your legislators to pass pay transparency laws. Vote for legislators who prioritize pay transparency.
We can make change, but we have to speak up and not stop.
Negotiation Affirmations
Repeat these negotiation affirmations as often as you need to. Keep them close to remind yourself of your worth, to speak up for yourself and speak up for others.
Add your own negotiation affirmations.
What negotiation affirmations should be added?
Sources:
*Article: “Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson on Starting and Scaling a Small Business” @hbr
Hosts: Amy Bernstein, Amy Gallo, Emily Caulfield
Guests: Stacey Abrams & Lara Hodgson
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Disclaimer: While the contents of this post and blog come from research and personal experience, each experience, situation and/or person has their own unique circumstances. This is not negotiation, financial or any other form of legitimate or official advice from an expert. Each individual should do their own independent, comprehensive research. Negotiation, career and all other decisions are the sole responsibility of each individual or party. Details found on the blog and in individual posts are opinions and should be treated as such for entertainment purposes only. Read further disclaimer information on the Disclaimer page.
