How to Make More Money in your Job

Making more money in a job doesn’t require quitting for entrepreneurship; it usually comes from becoming the kind of employee who gets visibility, strong manager support, and repeat opportunities for promotion and raises. The core claim is blunt: in most organizations, your manager’s perception of your work—more than the work itself—drives outcomes like raises, promotions, and long-term financial security.

The advice starts with a mindset shift that can feel uncomfortable: aim to become your boss’s favorite employee. That doesn’t mean blind flattery; it’s about recognizing that managers control key career levers such as project assignments, recommendations, and raise approvals. The relationship also affects day-to-day well-being—when a manager seems to dislike you, stress and anxiety spike, which can damage performance and health. When a manager values you, confidence rises, communication improves, and growth becomes more likely.

From there, the strategies get practical. Preparation for one-on-ones is treated as a career tool, not an administrative chore. Instead of an empty document or vague notes, the approach is to maintain a structured one-on-one tracker with categories like business, operations, and people, then add a career section every four to six weeks. The emphasis is on what the manager thinks you’re doing, so the documentation should include specific bullets, numbers, and links.

Visibility is the next lever. The “shameless Monday morning email” challenges the common belief that good work will speak for itself. Managers can’t read minds and often juggle too many direct reports to notice everything. A short weekly update—about last week’s accomplishments and next week’s priorities—creates a steady stream of context. The guidance is to keep it tight (around 15 minutes) and send it via email or chat tools like Slack.

Communication tactics then reinforce the same theme: make it easy for others to support you. One method is shifting language from “I” to “you,” focusing on the recipient’s goals and impact rather than personal intentions. Another is “taming the octopus,” a way to stop rambling by pausing, selecting the most relevant points, and leading with a concise set of three themes. The transcript uses a roleplay where a messy “words salad” answer becomes a clear list of three challenges—priorities, tools, and global alignment—followed by brief justification.

Executives and managers also need clarity fast, so slide decks should use a “grab” first-slide approach: put the purpose and key request up front rather than burying it under dense data. Beyond communication, the social side matters too. Being a “net positive energy contributor” (an energizer) is framed as a measurable advantage, linked to better evaluations, promotions, and pay in research cited from Feelgood Productivity.

Finally, career growth is treated as a partnership process. Schedule a dedicated career development conversation (30–45 minutes) and even consider reaching out to your manager’s manager to build broader support, since promotion decisions often involve multiple stakeholders. When discussing raises, lead with “what/how” questions that invite collaboration—how to partner on a promotion, what a raise plan could look like in six months—rather than yes/no demands. The overall message: financial progress inside a job is engineered through relationships, visibility, and structured communication, not just hard work or side hustles.