The Importance Of Investing In Yourself

The most precious investment in life is you! 

You are your most important asset when it comes to prioritizing your health and of course, doing whatever you are passionate about that strengthens your financial standing.  

However, too often, investing in ourselves is a low-priority item – something that we do not prioritize and budget for, as well as something that we procrastinate on doing on some other day.  

Sit back and think for a moment – when was the last time you invested in yourself? 
Maybe, the real question that you should change to ask is “Why shouldn’t I invest in myself?”, or “Why am I not investing in myself?”. 

Investing in yourself is not a selfish act, at all. In fact, by helping make your life better, you will, by default, make the lives better for everyone else around you. It is the best way to ensure that you are well-taken care of in the future, too. 

Why is investing in yourself important?

Think about it, besides being the person you have to spend the most time with, you are also the best real-life example of seeing an immediate return on investment.  

When you invest in your wellness, over time you have more energy to increase productivity at work, and hence, yielding more revenue. You will also be able to add more value to others when you prioritize investing in yourself.  

Unlike other investments out there, investing in yourself is never a risk, because it always pays off. Even when you think you’ve bad investments, they are not really a bad thing at all, when you could benefit from learning something from such investments the hard way. 

Failures are part and parcel of the road to success, especially when you take time to learn and apply corrective actions; the results you desire will manifest. In fact, you will derive more confidence coming out from your comfort zone to see sustainable success. 

What does investing in yourself mean?

It means: 

1. Learning new things. 
2. Taking calculated and intelligent risks.
3. Stepping out of your comfort zone. 
4. Exploring opportunities to improve your quality of life. 
5. Setting bigger and challenging goals. 

Making personal investment a priority:

How much you invest in yourself will determine what you experience and the major goals you achieve in life. It can also affect your mental health, your emotional health, your career prospects, the financial goals you set and whether you truly live a rich life.

Why most of us are not investing in ourselves?

For some reason, investing in ourselves seems to be far down on our list of priorities. The two biggest excuses are “when I have more money”, or “when I have more time”. But the reality is that these are just that – excuses. Yes, you might not have any spare cash, but investing in yourself doesn’t have to cost money. You might not have much spare time, but we all manage to make time for the things we really want to do. We also have to make time for things we really need to do.

Common reasons why we don’t invest in ourselves include:

1. We’re not sure whether we’ll see any returns on our investment. Or maybe we don’t value ourselves enough to invest in ourselves.  
2. We don’t want to challenge ourselves. It’s safer to stay where we are. 
3. We don’t have a learning or growth mindset. We don’t know what we want to learn, so we never start.
4. We may focus on instant gratifications because investing is usually a long-term initiative.
5. We have made poor investment decisions previously, and they are reluctant to take new risks. If you want to find out what you are capable of, you need to invest in yourself on a regular basis. 
    
   

What are some steps you can take to invest in yourself?

1. Invest in skills that improve your strengths,not your weaknesses

   Educating yourself is a life-long process. We are more inclined to try to improve on our weakness rather than our strengths.

   Studies have shown that when we focus on developing our strengths, we grow faster than when we try to improve our weaknesses. In addition, when we focus on improving our  strengths, we  are happier, less stressed, and more confident.

   So it may be time to consider trying to improve where you’re already strong rather than focusing your efforts on getting better in the areas where you’re weak.

2. Invest in your health

   Invest in your health should be your priority among others in your investment portfolio as your wellness is the essential ingredients in living a happy and active life. 

   People are preoccupied with other things such as creating wealth  and pursuing other material goals at the expense of their lives. What they don’t realize is that if you neglect your health, even all the money in the world cannot save you if your health deterioriate.

3. Invest in the moment

   In his famous book “The Power of Now”, Eckhart Tolle said, “The power for creating a better future is contained in the present moment. You create a good future by creating a good present.”

   By “invest in the moment,” means you have decided to develop your own ability to be more present in this moment, right now. This could be the smartest business decision you will ever make as investing in the moment pays high dividends: you get the keys to controlling your most valuable asset—your own state of mind.

Conclusion

A reason you are here today is to evolve and become the person you are meant to be. And, you can only become that person if you make learning and developing yourself a priority. As you invest in yourself, you will experience a change in how you view your daily experiences, and eventually, you will also gain more peace of mind. 

If you don’t invest in yourself, you will remain where you are and create the same results you are creating now. This means you will remain in your comfort zone, which will affect your attitude and outlook on life. The best thing you can do for yourself is to make investing in yourself one of your priorities in life. 

From my own personal experience, I should highlight the fact that investing in yourself may be the most profitable investment you have ever made. It yields not only future returns but often immediate pay-off as well. The time, effort and money you invest in yourself for your personal and professional growth will have a direct impact on the quality of life you experience now and well into the future. 
 
For now, I am waiting for the approval of my planned investment in a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA).
 
What are other important reasons why you should invest in yourself? 

Do share your feedback in the comment section.