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Double Your Salary Without Losing Your Soul

by | Fri, Jul 2 2021

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money in coins doubling

There’s a common belief in the world today that only Governments can reduce poverty. But in this 20Twenty conversation, Neil Johnson looks at some alternatives with Mark Anderson Smith, author of ‘Double Your Salary Without Losing Your Soul.’

Mark thought he was in a well-paid job until he couldn’t afford to buy his children new shoes. That experience made him examine his life and led him to set a goal to double his salary in just four years. Mark talks about how we think about our own future as Christians, and how the concept of setting goals can transform our lives.

Mark has actually doubled his salary three times already, and has now set himself the goal to do it a fourth time! But he says what he’s really aiming for is more time to spend on the things he really wants to do in life. “The amount of money earned isn’t really what I’m aiming for, it’s the freedom.”
Mark has worked in a large number of organisations around the UK, and sees a lot of people stuck in fairly low paid jobs. “There’s not much career progression and they’re struggling to get by. I think a lot of people just don’t know what they can do to change things.”

Mark explains that he first doubled his salary when he was quite young. “I was 16 and I knew that that job wasn’t going anywhere. I thought I really need to try and do something else, so I went on a training course with a youth training scheme. And after about nine months on that training scheme, I was offered a job that actually doubled my salary for the first time.”

Mark Anderson Smith
Mark Anderson Smith. (Photo credit: facebook.com/my100goals)

Mark says that setting goals for yourself is crucial. “I set myself on a path to find out what I needed to know. And that led me much more into focusing on goals and setting goals. I could work to improve my life. I had the opportunity to be mentored by a minister, and one of the things he said that really stuck with me was the importance of setting a long-term plan.”

Reading and a desire to improve are important tools for setting goals. “I did have this desire that I would be able to get a university degree. I realised that I needed a career. We had two children by that point, and I signed up with the aim of getting a college certificate. I knew that having and education was helpful, and since I’d always wanted to write a novel, I said, I’m going to do that too. That gave me goals, but then I had to figure out how I was going to achieve them.”

Mark studied with the Open University and was learning how to learn, which helped him in his work. “As I understood how to do research my work improved and my employers noticed this, so I was eventually able to get a better job. That research and study from education also helped me in my writing, which enabled me to finish my book.”

Mark says he always goes back to Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, where our father knows what we need. “God knows that we need clothes. He knows that we need food. He knows that we need a place to stay. God tells us to ask Him for what we need. But I think that God doesn’t expect us to just to sit back and be lazy. I think there is a place for faith where people will totally rely on God for everything. But for a lot of us, God expects us to work hard and not be afraid of that.”

When we look back in Genesis, we see that there’s a curse, and that Adam was to work by the sweat of his hands. “I do believe as Christians, that we can shake off some of that curse and not to be crushed by the work we do,” says Mark.

“We should not be afraid of getting our hands dirty and working hard as well. There’s a spiritual satisfaction and emotional satisfaction in working hard and doing a good job.

We all have many talents and God wants us to use them! I believe that if you will use the gifts that God has given, you can do amazing things with your life.”

Listen below to hear the rest of Mark’s discussion with Neil about setting goals for your life.

Tune into 20Twenty and join the conversation with Neil Johnson, weekdays on Vision Christian Radio. Click here for your local times.

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