What does it mean to invest in yourself?

Imagine if you will, that you have decided to invest in yourself by taking some of the money you have and investing it in a savings account.  Then ask yourself, what would be the return on investment (ROI)? Currently, the amount could be about 1% to 2%. Then imagine what the ROI might be if you were to invest that same money in stock or real estate? The ROI could be about 10% as long as things did not go wrong. Something to think about is you have little or no control in these investments. You are at the mercy of not only the economy but also what other people are doing. In either of these situations, there is no promise that you will have an ROI and you could lose everything, basically this type of investment in yourself is gone. Another way to invest in yourself is to expand your mind. You are in control of what you learn and what you do with what you learn. Your goal should be to learn and then implement what you have learned. You want to see the fruits of your labor pay off. But again, you are in control. So everything hinges on what you put into it. Another thing to remember is that when you invest in yourself this way you are creating more opportunities. You may not see anything at first, but over time you will. One could say that if they are not learning, then they are basically remaining the same. It is as if you are standing still while things pass you by. There is no guarantee here. It all depends on how much you believe in yourself and how much effort you put into it. As you are learning, share with others. This way you are investing, learning, teaching (sharing), and you profit. Ray Higdon coined the concept ILT; invest, learn, and teach.

How do you invest in yourself?

You attend live events/webinars. – Review the different offerings given by your company. Review the offerings given by generic organizations. You purchase courses – do the courses. Whether the course is online, in a classroom, or self-paced on paper, you get only what you put into the course. You read books. – If you are not a reader today, then as a suggestion start by reading four to ten pages a day. Imagine, if the book has 200 pages and you were reading five pages per day. In forty days, you will have completed that book. In one year, you would have read approximately nine books. As you read different books, you will soon discover you will be reading more than five pages per day. You hire a coach/mentor – When hiring a coach/mentor do so carefully. Look for one who is psychologically, spiritually, financially, and even physically where you want to be and who will hold you accountable to the plan you develop.

What motivates you?

If you do not enjoy what you are doing, you will never be good at it (Luke Parker). One way to motivate yourself is to imagine how sad it would be if, by this time next year, nothing has changed and you are exactly the same as you are today. Your savings is the same. You have the same job, the same problems, you have to day. Your dreams are the same because you have done nothing to realize them. Terrible thought, right? In the end, we only regret the chances we do not take. You have to go through a learning curve. Do not give up because you think you are bad at it. If you keep at it and learn, you will get better every day. The goal is not only to grow yourself, but to inspire others to grow as well. You never know when some bit of what you learned may help or inspire your spouse, your children, your boss, or even others. My motivation is: I enjoy traveling, sitting back and relaxing, simply enjoying life. However, I have no desire to do it alone. Currently, “my lady” has her own business and cannot retire from it without additional income. Thus, my motivation is to get her to a position where she can retire from her current business and work on her new business that will permit her to join me in the traveling, sitting back, and relaxing. Consider where your training is taking place. For example, if you are going to Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon are near-by. Go visit and take the time to sit back and relax with your loved ones.

Bringing it all together.

Investing in yourself means that you are taking control of your destiny. No one else is in charge. It has become your responsibility to live your dreams. To make this happen you will have to discover the avenues that will help you learn. This learning could be from attending different events, reading a book, or just taking advice from the correct people. Use the ILT method, invest, learn, and teach. Above all and possibly the most difficult, you will have to find motivation to keep you going. on track, and hold you accountable. This is why it was suggested to find something you want and look at it, live it, and breath it every day. The last thing to remember is that winners fail many times, get back up, and move forward. Quitters never win. The question I will leave you to ponder is: what does investing in yourself have to do with starting a business? If you are having trouble deciding how to invest in yourself I am here: as a mentor, as a coach, and a friend.

Stay tuned!