I’d like to take a dive into the conversation of investing. When it comes to investing, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? You, like many others, may associate the word “investing” with real estate, stock markets, business ideas or 401K retirement savings. These are all phenomenal ways to invest money and time and sometimes, they do pay off. But, what if I said, the most important area of our lives that require investment is sometimes the least invested in?
Think of it like this; in order to make money, invest in stocks or put time into business, we have to be equipped with the tools necessary to achieve them all. There is a common denominator that enables this to happen, and that denominator is you. The quality of work, time, value and money put into yourself is what you will harvest. Investing in yourself means you choose yourself above everything else. In order to be productive and fulfilled in life, you will have to spend the time building and improving upon yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and intellectually.
NO ONE can invest in you, BETTER than you! Investing in yourself sends a message to you and the world, that you see yourself as valuable, important and that you believe in your abilities. What happens next? people begin to gravitate toward you and the power of your presence. Your potential transforms into performance through the power of your newly refined and energetic thoughts of self. You’ll begin to see improvement in all domains of life; from personal to work relationships, spiritual to personal growth, financial to business success etc.
Now, let’s dive into the “How of self-investing”. I’ve read many books that suggest our lives can be broken down into 6 distinct domains; (1)Personal, (2)Financial, (3)Relationship, (4)Spiritual, (5)Health and (6)Professional/Business.
Begin by writing down one long term goal within each domain, using the SMART approach to goal setting.
Next, break down the long term goal into two or three SMART short term goals.
Identify two positive habits you can adopt in each domain to help towards achieving your goals Identify one habit that negatively impacts your ability to achieve your goals and work on stopping it.
Place these Goals in a very visible place and review it as frequently as you can. This will help with ingraining it into your memory.
Let’s take a look at an example below:
Domain: Personal Growth.
Long Term Goal: Become a Mindfulness/Health & Wellness coach by February, 2021. Short Term Goals: Read one book every two weeks on Mindfulness/Self Love/Meditation. Attend a Mindfulness and Health coaching course twice a week and obtain certification by October 31st, 2020
Habits to adopt:
Utilize my schedule and calendar daily to set reminders to read and attend course. Meditate daily for 10-20 minutes to help with mindfulness and being present. Perform tasks within allotted time to prevent time overlap.
Habits to cease: Less time watching TV (I could disconnect my cable TV).
I hope the above example helps illustrate how self-investment can be put to practice. Investing in yourself increases your sense of self worth and value. To achieve your very best, you need to be your very best version of you and this can only be done with time, effort, persistence and discipline.