The Feds cut the interest rate along with some of the central banks in Western Europe, Canada, and China.

The hope was that by doing this the market would respond favorably.  No such luck.  The market went down even further.  Fear is in the air.  If the banks are lowering the interest rates then the situation must be much worse than was thought.  Right?  So the markets went down.

Now it looks like it does not matter at all what is being done.  Everybody has decided that THE RECESSION is coming and does everything to fulfill the prophecy.

What can an underearner learn from this mess?

One thing is that if we behave like we are not worth much, then the market will put the price on our services, i.e., not much.  We are not going to be paid more than what we ask for.  By not asking for what is fair we are underpaid and everything in our lives reflect that.  We feel miserable and our performance reflects that.  Which in return validates what we are paid.  It is a vicious cycle that will not stop until we step out of it and stand up for ourselves.

Another thing that we can learn is the effect of fear.  People on Wall Street are not the only ones that are affected by fear.  We are to.  It is scary to ask for a raise even when you know you deserve one.  It is scary to negotiate what you are worth.  Women are especially afraid to negotiate.  What if the employer or customer doesn’t like it?  They might get offended.  And then there is the myth that what you are offered is what you are worth.  Negotiation was always the men’s game.  In reality we are supposed to negotiate for our pay.  What is offered is how low they think they can get away with.  It is our job, no duty, to negotiate for as high pay as possible.  Fear will only keep us down, like the Dow Jones and other indexes around the world today.

Love and peace,

ElinAnna