She's just trying to 'earn a living'. [=to earn the money needed for food, clothing, etc.]
He will do anything to 'earn his keep'. [=to earn what is needed to support himself]
He 'earned/won his spurs' by doubling the company's profits in the past year.
(..) - You wanna make history. - No. Not history. I wanna make a difference. If your little daughter says that I'm her hero... ...then I gotta earn that. All right, we go in low and quiet. Time to target is two minutes. - Falcon , maintain - feet. - Falcon , copy, - feet. - Drop to - feet! (..)2013 White House Down