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I went from $60K → $185K as a software engineer in Canada. But if I had done these 5 things very differently — I think I could have gotten there much faster. 1. I’d stop putting a ceiling on my own income. Early in my career, I had a limiting belief that there was only so much a software engineer could earn in Canada. I was wrong. There will always be people who are less experienced or less capable than you earning significantly more. I’d apply for higher-paying roles sooner, ask for more, and stop assuming my current salary represented my potential. 2. I’d stop waiting for promotions. I spent too many years at the same company early in my career, and it slowed down my salary growth. Some companies simply aren't going to give you the promotion or raise you're hoping for — and that's okay. I'd focus on learning as much as possible, building strong experience, and then using that experience to move to a company offering a higher title, salary, or both. 3. I’d optimize for my market value, not just work harder. I spent over a year doing on-call to make an additional ~$15K. It was good money, but looking back, I would have spent more of that energy increasing my earning power instead. Learn valuable skills. Take on bigger problems. Increasing your hourly value is far more scalable than simply working more hours. 4. I’d experiment much more with my career. Early on, I thought I needed to find the "right" career path and stick with it. Instead, I'd experiment sooner — different companies, roles, technologies, responsibilities and environments.Sometimes the fastest way to figure it out is to try things and see what creates opportunities. 5. I’d invest more of every salary increase instead of letting my lifestyle catch up. Going from $60K to $185K gave me dramatically more financial flexibility. But increasing your income is only half the equation. The other half is what you do with the difference. I'd keep my lifestyle intentional, invest the surplus, and let my income growth compound into wealth. Going from $60K → $185K changed my life. But if I could go back, I wouldn't just tell myself to work harder. I'd focus on becoming more valuable, testing the market, and being much more intentional about what I did with the extra money. #personalfinance #financialfreedom #canadapersonalfinance #salarycanada #canada canada🇨🇦 reelsinstagram reelitfeelit reelkarofeelkaro