In this time and age, you probably should invest in stocks, mutual bonds, ETFs, shares, property, Steemit (duh!) and precious metals if you aren’t already doing that.
As the famous adage goes, you must also spend less than what you earn. So, why invest? Investing makes you feel secure, makes your money grow and helps you earn while you sleep. With time, your investments will give you returns either through interest or by appreciating in value.
But if you’ve been investing in all of these areas with the help of some financial advisor using money you earn from a joyless and soul-sucking job or if your assets were to dissipate, get destroyed in a tornado, depreciate, or fall down with no hope of going up in the future, you’ll have to start from scratch, quite literally from that starting point scratched in the ground in sporting context. And who will volunteer to pay your financial advisor? If you have a rich Daddy, good for you. But for those of us who don’t, a therapist’s couch will do during these trying times.
Not to mention those unexpected bills that destroy all your savings.
Now let’s think about this for a minute. If you had also invested in yourself by enrolling in the best programs available to help you learn faster and quicker, tap into your inner creative genius, quieten a busy mind, and add an arsenal of other life-coping mechanisms, you will have invested in an asset that will always appreciate, and always rise in value—YOU. Yes, of course you could get run over by a bus (I hope not) or forget to pull the chord on your next skydiving adventure (please don’t) but that’s besides the point. If you survive, you still have YOU and even if you have to start from scratch, you’ve got the YOU who has a few tricks up her sleeve. If you built Rome, even if it took more than a day to build Rome, YOU built freaking Rome. Perhaps someone else invested in a piece of the Rome you built while you invested in YOU. So, you can build Rome again and that someone will go on investing in what you build. Not to belabor the point but mi amigo mejor, your biggest asset will always be YOU.
So, before you invest in anything else, invest in yourself. No, not in another vacation home, not in your best friend but YOU. Of course, these people and things have their places, but remember, no matter what your age, race, sex or beliefs, embrace yourself just the way you are and invest in YOU, the YOU that you are, the YOU you want to be and the YOU you want to get rid of. That photography class you’ve been dreaming of? Take it. How about that rock climbing course and learning to belay? There are even coupons on Groupon for this one, doesn’t get cheaper than that. Like to run? Sign up for a 5K every month and feel accountable. Work your way up to a marathon if that makes you feel more empowered. Have a fear of public speaking? Join a toastmasters club. If you’re terrified of talking, attend as a visitor, watch, learn and do the best you can.
Investing in yourself will skyrocket your productivity by a compounding effect. Yes, you may continue to invest in your stocks and funds, but you will still be your biggest asset if you continue to reinvent yourself through investing in yourself.
Learn how to learn faster and quicker, learn to give yourself little rewards throughout your life, free yourself from toxic relationships and limiting beliefs, and learn how to tap into your inner, creative genius and meditate. Learn those pretzel yoga poses and to paint. Learn a new language, immerse yourself in a new culture and travel to a new country.
What you invest in yourself, your biggest asset— “YOU” is always permanent and will always appreciate. And another famous adage goes: Twenty years from now you will disappointed in the things you didn’t do than the things you did, so go out there and get your hands dirty, invest in your memories, your experiences of life itself and in YOU.