This year, please don’t undersell yourself.
I have been there. And I can tell you, it’s not a good place to be.
There are situations where being humble is quietly costing you big. Where your “reasonable” pricing is actually unreasonable — to you. Where your willingness to be flexible has become an invitation for others to undervalue what you bring.
Let me tell you how I see it now.
It’s Not Easy. I Just Paid the Price Early.
If I deliver something quickly today, or deliver it with panache and precision, it is not because it was easy.
RESOURCE FOR THE WEEK
The Transition Decision Scorecard maps the evidence for your three options — and tells you which path your answers point to.
It is because I paid the price early.
The late nights learning. The mistakes that taught me what doesn’t work. The repetition that turned conscious effort into instinct. The years of showing up, figuring it out, and getting better.
That’s not visible in the final delivery. But it’s embedded in every bit of it.
“My Payslip Has Nothing to Do with the Amount I’m Quoting”
At a point in my career, I was moving jobs and was asked to share my payslip so they could calculate an offer.
I told the HR manager: “My payslip has nothing to do with the amount I am quoting.”
The usual percentage on top of current salary wasn’t going to cut it.
I wasn’t asking them to pay for my previous employer’s valuation of me. I was asking them to pay for:
- Experience; years of navigating complex situations
- Speed of execution; that only comes with skills honed over time
- Mistakes they won’t have to make; because I’ve already made them
- Confidence in results; that comes from repetition, not guesswork
They were buying the shortcut. And shortcuts have a premium.
“It’s 30 Minutes for Them. It’s Years for Me.”
My investment coaching session is batched in 30 minutes.
RESOURCE FOR THE WEEK
The Transition Decision Scorecard maps the evidence for your three options — and tells you which path your answers point to.
When I tell people the cost and some say it’s high, I don’t get upset. I understand how they see it.
I just see it differently.
It is 30 minutes for them.
It is years for me — the experience, the mistakes, the frameworks refined through hundreds of conversations, the pattern recognition that lets me cut through noise and get to the real issue fast.
They’re not paying for 30 minutes of my time. They’re paying for the years that made those 30 minutes valuable.
The Merry-Go-Round Tax
I’ve been on the other side of this too.
There was something I needed — a service, an expertise. I thought I could figure it out myself, or find a cheaper option, or wait for the “right time.”
I did the merry-go-round for a year.
Then I came back to pay more — because the exchange rate had gone up, the provider had raised prices, and I’d wasted twelve months getting nowhere.
RESOURCE FOR THE WEEK
The Transition Decision Scorecard maps the evidence for your three options — and tells you which path your answers point to.
The “savings” cost me far more than the original investment would have.
I learnt.
They Knew All Along
This is why sometimes, when you tender your resignation, they suddenly ask: “What can we do to make you stay?”
Interesting, isn’t it?
They knew all along you were underselling yourself. They just weren’t going to volunteer to pay you more while you were willing to accept less.
Your underpricing wasn’t their problem to solve. It was their advantage to keep.
Until you decided it wasn’t acceptable anymore.
This Year, Charge for It
This year, for the value you bring to:
- Processes; the efficiency, the systems, the improvements
- People; the leadership, the development, the culture
- Performance; the results, the outcomes, the impact
With your full chest — charge for it!
If one person won’t pay it, trust me: someone out there who knows the worth will.
The question isn’t whether you’re worth it. You already know you are.
The question is whether you’re going to act like it.
The Visibility Tax Connection
What I’ve described here is a form of what I call the Advancement Tax — specifically, the intersection of the Credibility Tax and the Visibility Tax.
The Credibility Tax is the energy you spend proving competence that others receive automatically.
The Visibility Tax is the energy you spend managing how you’re seen; including the trap of being “too visible” (aggressive, arrogant) versus “not visible enough” (overlooked, undervalued).
When you undersell yourself, you’re paying both:
- You’re signaling that your work isn’t as valuable as it is (visibility)
- You’re inviting others to question whether you’re worth more (credibility)
And the cost compounds over time.
Your Move
If you’ve been underselling yourself — in salary negotiations, in pricing your services, in how you talk about your contributions — this is your permission slip to stop.
Not arrogance. Just accuracy.
Not bragging. Just truth.
The price isn’t for the time. It’s for the years that made the time possible.
Charge accordingly.
Ready to Stop Underselling Yourself?
If you’re paying the Visibility Tax — being overlooked, undervalued, or stuck making your work visible without feeling like you’re bragging — I’ve created resources to help.
Start here:
→ Take the Free Energy Audit; Calculate exactly where you’re paying the Advancement Tax
TAKE THE FREE ENERGY AUDIT →