For many young people, particularly people under the age
of thirty, there’s quite often more value in investing in you than there is in
investing in stocks. A well-conceived investment in your future can continue to
pay dividends over the rest of your life. Some investments in yourself can even
be worthwhile near the end of your career.
In my own life, I’ve found that some of the most valuable
things I’ve ever done were investments in me. I invested the cost and time to
get a college education. I’ve even invested a lot of time – an amount that some
of my friends have believed was excessive – carefully figuring out who I was,
what my true talents are, and what I should be doing with my time. I did all of
these things pretty early in life, before I was thirty, and they were all worth
the time and financial costs associated with each of them.
Anyway, for 2018, it is going to be a selfish year. I
have been investing my time in many people who just did not deserve it and are users.
I will continue to keep an open mind and an open heart and will still be there
for friends and loved ones but I will be a lot smarter too. Mostly, my time
will be invested on me. It is time to start improving myself. I want to become
a better person physically and mentally.
Investing in you can yield returns far greater than any
other investment.
We spend a lot of time worrying about investing and are
quick to gauge how things are going by looking at quarterly statements. It’s all
dollar signs — bank accounts, the value of your home — these are the things we
invest in and can easily determine whether or not it’s a good investment. These
are all important investments, without a doubt, but are these things what
really matter?
You often hear about how your home or your career is your
greatest assets, but I think that’s a little shortsighted. If you take a look at
your net worth or your personal balance sheet, yes, you can argue that your
home is one of your greatest financial assets. And if you have a steady job and
a rewarding career it’s easy to see how important that asset is since it will
provide income for years and possibly decades to come. But in the end, these
assets pale in comparison to your true greatest asset: yourself.
You are an asset. Think about that for a minute. If you
work for someone else, you are an asset to that company. If you’re married, you
are an asset to your spouse. And it goes without saying, but if you have
children you are an incredible asset to them. You’re an asset to the community
you live in, to your neighbors, and to those you interact with on a daily
basis.
Take a moment and look at yourself in the mirror. No. Not
a mirror in a physical sense, but look at yourself from the outside. How do you
look to others? How valuable are you to those around you? Do you stand out as
an important asset, or do you slip by as just a run-of-the-mill person? These
are difficult questions to answer, and the answers may not always be obvious.
Becoming a valuable asset is important on both the
professional and personal level. When most people talk about being an asset, it
has to do with getting ahead in the workplace. This is certainly important if
you’re trying to keep your job, advance your career, or enter a new line of
work, but it’s equally important on a personal level. These two aspects of your
life are more interconnected than you may imagine. Investing in your professional
life will impact aspects of your personal life, and investing in yourself on a
personal level will undoubtedly help your professional life.
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However, before you can make improvements in other areas
of your life you must first take care of some of your most basic needs. We need
to step back for a moment and forget about money. Money is important, but
without your health, it’s worthless. Understandably, you’re probably groaning
at the idea of what it will take to improve your health. You’re thinking about
diets, lots of exercise, and cutting out all the fun stuff in your life. I
agree, none of that sounds like much fun. But we’re not talking about making
drastic changes overnight. Habits that have developed over the course of years
can be hard to break, so it’s best to make small changes over time that will
lead to healthier habits.
GET MORE SLEEP
We live in a 24 hour world and it is taking its toll on
sleep. Between the internet, TV, Androids and iPhones, the day doesn’t end when
you come home from work. These days we’re constantly being interrupted and our
work lives are bleeding into our personal lives. This added stress and lack of
down time can really cut into your sleep. While it isn’t uncommon for people to
get by on just six hours or so of sleep, studies have shown most of us still
need more.
I know, I know. There are only 24 hours in a day and you
already can’t get everything done, so how on Earth can you be expected to get
more sleep? If you like to hit the snooze 5 times every morning, find you can’t
concentrate until you’ve had your first three cups of coffee in the morning, or
could pass out at your desk after lunch, then you’re not getting enough sleep.
Think about all of the time you waste when you aren’t completely focused or
working inefficiently because you’re fighting the urge to sleep. Instead, use
that extra hour you’re wasting throughout the day by being tired and get some
extra sleep. You’ll wake up feeling better, your body will be rested, and you
can make better use of your waking hours, not to mention improve your overall
health.
EAT BETTER
This doesn’t mean you should go on a drastic diet and try
to cut 20 pounds in a month, but just a few little changes in your diet can go a
long way. Start with breakfast. It really is the most important meal of the
day. Breakfast will jump-start your metabolism and prepare your body for a full
day of work. I always had difficulty finding time in the morning to squeeze in
breakfast, but I’ve found that just grabbing a banana or something before
heading out the door helps a lot.
Next, just be a little more conscious of what you’re
eating and make an effort to make small changes here and there. If you drink a
few sodas each day, start by replacing one with something else to drink. Ideally
water, but even juice or something would be a good start if it’s the caffeine
that you really crave. Over time you’ll find that you crave soda less and in
the process you will be cutting out a lot of calories from your diet. If you’re
looking to cut back come dinner time, consider cutting back on some of the
pasta or rice and throw in an occasional salad. Again, even if you do this just
a couple times a week you will begin to create healthy habits that will lead to
a healthier you over time.
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YOUR PERSONAL SELF
What’s important to you? That’s what we’re going to try
and answer right now. Take a moment to think about what you really enjoy and what
matters most to you. Spending time with friends? Family? Being outdoors?
Helping others? Just reading a good book? Now that you have an answer, how
often do you get to do these things? If you’re like most people, the answer is
probably, “not often enough.” Life is too short to be stuck running around
constantly trying to meet deadlines, make more money, and constantly put things
off until the future. You need to make time for the things you love.
Whatever it is that you wish you could be doing, find a
way to make it happen. This is easier said than done, I know. But it can be done.
Now, we aren’t going to be working any miracles here and have you living on a
tropical island (although I do live on one) when you have responsibilities here
at home, but let’s start with gradual changes. Find days to incorporate what
you love to do into your regular schedule. The bottom line is that you just
have to make time. Don’t make excuses. If you can make time to run to the dry cleaners
every week, you can certainly set aside a half hour each week to do something
you really enjoy. Whether it’s just sitting down with a glass of wine and a
good book, a stroll with your kids through the park, or volunteering your time
for a good cause. You just have to force yourself to set aside some time and do
it.
It’s all about balance. Our lives are filled with
responsibilities, deadlines, and work to get done, but these things can’t
control us. You need to invest in creating some personal time. Even if it is just
30 minutes a day, the more you can introduce the things you love into your
life, the happier you’ll be. Your happiness will begin to spill over into the
other areas of your life. You’ll perform better at work, have better
relationships with your friends and neighbours, and overall become a greater
asset to everyone you interact with. All the time you put in at work and money
you save doesn’t mean a whole lot if you aren’t investing in what makes you happy.
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PROFESSIONAL SELF
A healthier and happier you can go a long way, but if you
really want to invest in something that can pay huge dividends, consider investing
in your professional self. It doesn’t matter if you’re making minimum wage
doing factory work or a veteran executive with a corner office — investing in
yourself will shape your future. When most people talk about investing in your
professional self, the advice has to do with getting additional education,
certifications, or experience so that you can advance your career. Now, there’s
nothing wrong with that advice, but I want to touch on a few different areas I
have learned through the years.
NETWORKING
It’s not who you know, but what you know, right? If only
it was that simple. Obviously, it can help to have a solid education and a lot of
experience, but it is hardly the only path to success. Just as important as
having the knowledge and skills to do a particular job, you need to have
connections. These connections will open up opportunities that can be used to
leverage your skills and find a path of least resistance to reach your goal.
When it comes to networking you should strike a balance
between quantity and quality. With the advent of the internet, the ability to
build a massive network is incredibly simple. Just hop on Facebook, Twitter, or
any of the number of social networking type sites and you can almost instantly
build a network of hundreds or even thousands of people. While numbers are
good, connecting with 1,000 people you never get to know and just connecting
for the sake of building a connection will probably be less effective than a network
of 20 people who are in your line of work and that you interact with on a
regular basis.
One of the best ways to network professionally is through
LinkedIn. Unlike many of the other social networks that are filled with updates
from people about what they had for lunch, their favorite music, or who they
are currently dating, LinkedIn is more about business. Here you’ll be able to
connect with coworkers past and present and join groups based on your interests
or background. These professional connections can lead to a number of
interactions you may not have otherwise had access to that can help launch your
career in a new direction.
While LinkedIn is great for professional networking, that
doesn’t mean you should dismiss the likes of Twitter or Facebook, either. With
these sites, you really get out of it what you put into it. If you focus your
efforts on networking with other likeminded-individuals and actually foster your
relationships, you can open many new doors. At the same time, if you just sign
up for the sake of signing up and expect great things by befriending as many
people as possible, you’ll probably be disappointed.
Finally, don’t forget about local networking. Seek out
networking opportunities right in your own backyard.
BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BRAND
When you think of Coca-Cola, Nike, or Microsoft, I bet
you instantly know who these companies are and what they produce. You’ve also probably
formed opinions of each of these companies or their products based on how they
present themselves and your past experiences with their products. This is a
brand.
What if I told you that you were your own brand? It might
sound a bit silly to think of just a regular person as a brand, but it’s true.
The way you represent yourself and how others see you is your own personal
brand. Whether you like it or not, your actions and words speak volumes about
who you are. This reputation can follow you for the rest of your life, so it’s
obviously important to build a positive brand as opposed to a negative one.
So, what does your personal brand say about you? When
someone types your name into Google, what do they see? Do others see you as
you’d like to be seen? And when you meet someone for the first time, are you
leaving a good impression and clearly displaying what you stand for? In today’s
fast-paced world you may only have a few seconds to make an impression.
Depending on how you’ve developed your brand, you may have left an
unforgettable mark, or simply fade into the homogeneous background with
everyone else.
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So always remember to invest in yourself for immeasurable
returns.
It’s easy to get caught up with money. It drives
everything we do from paying for food and shelter, to being stashed away for 30
years so we have something to spend in retirement. But as important as
Money is, it’s just as important to take a look at the
bigger picture. Yes, your financial investments are important, your home is important,
and being able to afford a comfortable lifestyle means a lot. But none of this
matters if you’re unhealthy, unhappy, and have few prospects.
This is especially true in difficult financial times.
When the news is filled with gloom and doom, your investment accounts drop like
a rock, and you can’t sell your house, it’s easy to get caught up in the
feeling that things are just helpless and it’s all out of your control. Well,
it’s true that you can’t control the economy or magically make your retirement
account go back up, but there is one investment you can make that will pay off.
When you invest in yourself you might not be able to immediately put a dollar
amount on the gains, but over time you will have realized returns far greater than
those money can buy.
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