“You don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate. We all need to negotiate and know how to get the best results.” - Gary Ryan Blair

I am always mildly amused by people that say things like “I can’t,” “I’m stuck in [a job, a relationship, a situation],” “That’s not possible,” etc.

Uhm, yes you can. Everything is negotiable, is doable, is possible.

Here are some examples that stand out from my life…

  • Most recently, I had to break my apartment lease. One reason was related to excessive noise from the upstairs neighbors that made for an untenable situation. I was one of MANY people in the complex dealing with this situation. As I was moving out (after being there only 5 months), I ran into a few of the people I knew going through the same situation. They asked about my moving out and their response was, “I can’t wait to move but I still have time until my lease expires.” Uhm, yeah, me too. However, I negotiated my way out of the lease. I was able to do this because I knew my rights and I knew how to appropriately escalate and document the situation.
  • In 2009, I took five weeks off work to do a trek to Everest Base Camp and then to travel back to the States via Europe. I can’t even tell you how many people along the way that said, “I could never take five weeks off work.” Yes, you can. I negotiated time off – some paid, some not. Was it normal/typical? No. Was it doable? Yes. I worked extra hours ahead of time to ensure I left my team all set up.
  • One year I bought a condo in Washington. Six weeks later I received a job offer in Arizona. It was too soon to sell the condo; the job offer was too good to pass up. Most people asked why I would even consider the job and a move. I knew owning a condo in WA and taking a job in AZ didn’t have to be mutually exclusive events. I negotiated a salary that would allow me to pay both my mortgage on my condo and rent in my new location.

This post is for subscribers only

Subscribe now to read the post and get full access to exclusive content.

Subscribe now Already have an account? Sign in