Invest in Yourself
About a year ago I remember being an attendee at a business summit, excited because Gary Vaynerchuk was the keynote speaker. It was the first time I’ll see the hustle phenom in person and I was pumped to introduce myself. The day before Gary V was suppose to give his keynote a different fellow prepared to give a speech. He was a wise looking man with a full head of gray hair. I wasn’t familiar with this person’s name and I really didn’t know what to expect. After all I was only following the modern business gurus (Gary Vaynerchuk, Seth Godin, Timothy Ferriss, and others).
After this man was done speaking I was in pure awe and knew his message would never leave my mind. Even though I was partly practicing the concepts he was teaching he made my subconscious mind aware and never forget. The concept was simple, invest in yourself.
Why do we invest more on cars than we do our minds? -Brian Tracy
The man’s name was Brian Tracy, known by our parents and elders for helping people achieve personal success and also still known today for teaching outstanding success principles (apparently I didn’t know who he was till I met him in person last year, he was seriously like a cool grandfather with tons of energy). As he said the very quote above on stage, it made me think and realize that education is a continuing process no matter what. You must always be hungry for knowledge and even hungrier to apply it.
Invest three percent of your income in yourself (self-development) in order to guarantee your future. -Brian Tracy
Lets do some quick math right now. You make $5,000 a month, 5,000 x .03 = 150. $150 a month should be going back into your self-development (books, physical courses, e-courses, etc.)
Next time you go out on a mission to buy the latest accessories that are eventually going to collect dust and add to the clutter ask yourself this question, “Am I investing in myself?”
What ways can you invest in yourself? Books - The best way to build a foundation is by reading books, I’m sure you heard this a million times, its true so start reading what’s out there. It can be fiction, non-fiction, business, history, psychology…as long as you’re continuing to learn and obtain new skills – you’re golden. Audio books - Okay so you’re friends may think you’re weird because you decide to listen to business audio books on your commute instead of music, so what…if you don’t have time to read, listing to an audio book is a great way to absorb some knowledge. Seminars/Conferences - The connections and skills you can obtain at these type of events are priceless – if you’re a young innovator start with a GenJuice event.
Its literally endless the ways you can invest in yourself – invest in yourself, and apply it, period.
I leave you with this question – are you investing in yourself? Chances you are if you’re reading this post.
Photo Credit: alamosbasement
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Hello and welcome, I'm Tony Ruiz. My work revolves around learning and applying efficient processes, human psychology, Internet marketing, and user experience to web-based projects. You can learn more about me here.
Excellent post. It’s always been difficult for me to *not* invest in myself. This investment is the way I quit a crappy job, started designing websites and created a successful blog. And now I’m going to be launching an online course. All of these happened because of investment.
I’m not sure I agree with the suggestion that you should spend 3% of your income on investment. That would have been great advice for our parents, but as you noted in the last line, reading this blog is an investment! There are a lot of blogs out there that qualify as an investment. I learned to design/program from just one or two books and a couple dozen free-of-charge blogs. With the internet, I think it’s possible to invest in your future without money even entering the equation. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t spend money on things you’d like to learn or experience, but that there are too many free, high-quality alternatives to jump straight to spending money.
JD,
You’re totally right, something that we can relate to currency is TIME. By taking the TIME to blog and reach out to others in the community is a form of investment. Also by reading blogs that teach us advanced skills to establish ourselves in different areas and expand our knowledge is a huge form of investment. I’m sure that quote would be adjusted a bit if it was originally said in the times we are in now, web 2.0.
Its also not a bad idea to take premium courses similar to yours to speed up on things, sure you may be able to find the information scatter across the internet. But then you’re putting the pieces – and some pieces may be missing without even knowing it. Its a wise investment as long as you gain extreme value.
You wrote the name Gary as “Gray” on two places in the first paragraph. Once in the middle another towards the end.
Thanks for taking the time to proof read the article for me — ha ha, mass typos can happen when you’re up writing a blog post at 3am. Thanks buddy :)
This is THE difference between the successful and those who just ‘exist’. Great post Tony. I try to make sure that im always investing in myself. Unfortunately I like beer a little too much for that to be possible but its still a high level philosophy. I actually feel better about money I spend investing in myself than on stupid shit.
Ha ha, Vinay when we cross paths in person, one-round on me – wouldn’t be a bad investment at all because I know we would be chatting it up and having epic business conversations.
I agree to the fullest, this is the KEY difference between the successful and those who just exist.
Great post!
If you don’t invest money into yourself, or your business, rather, where can you expect to get? Most bloggers have already made investments – hosting & domain name – but what else can they invest in? Other websites? Courses? Great job you did here.
Hey Joe – You can never go wrong by investing in additional courses. Thanks for stopping by man.
Hey Tony,
I totally agree. The best thing we can do for ourself is invest in ourself. A lot of people tend to overlook things like personal development and just expect to become great on accident but it really does take hard work. That means going out and finding sources that can help us become better.
I like investing even more that 3% in myself but it depends on where you’re at and how much money you have (right now not much, therefore investing seems like a good idea)
Thanks for posting this! I think more people need to listen to this advice
Peace,
Darren L Carter
Darren, you’re right on point. We must always stay hungry for self improvement. Our body of work is never finished. Great seeing you here man.
Tony,
It was a please to find your blog and I enjoyed this post.
To me self development is so important and I believe if you don’t invest in yourself then you are either ignorant or so arrogant that no one would want to deal with you.
Actually agree with Darren’s comment that a 3% self investment is a bit low, especially in this fast changing world.
By the way the % you invest in yourself does not always have to have a dollar figure – simply spending time on this important part of your life will do wonders for your skills, attitude, knowledge and credibility.
Sadly you may have answered your own question re “Are you investing in yourself?” – I will be happy to make a positive reference to your blog so that others may “see the light!”
Thanks Tony
Right on Peter! I’m glad you’re here and stumbled across the blog. 3% should be the minimum investment but if you’re hungry to get to the top, please invest more. Just remember that quote “Why do we invest more on cars than we do our minds?” – you’ll think twice when you make that purchase on some useless accessory or item. Thanks for the great feedback.
Excellent points here Tony. As this economy continues to collapse, we will see a lot more people truly investing in themselves and going inward for anwswers in the form of personal development and self help. This is an exciting time in history for self expansion.
No matter what the economies conditions people should always be reaching for greater heights – you’re body of work is never finished. Thanks for your feedback Baker!
I’m hesitant to put an amount on how much we should invest in ourselves because I think it’s dependent on so many factors (your financial status, where you’re at in your life, what you can obtain for free), but I’m fascinated with the phenomenon because I can’t fathom why more people A.) don’t invest in themselves and B.) refuse to re-invest in their online businesses early on in its development.
Ryan! You bring up a great point. Re-investing in your business is key during early stage development. Some people miss that point and they wonder why their business collapsed during the first 3-5 years they opened shop.
Investing in ourselves is the greatest gift that we can give ourselves. I have realized this truth many years ago when I held in my hands the first book that changed my life: Think and Grow Rich. From then on it has always been part of my daily task to read books. Most people would not realize what their missing until they read good books. :-)
Think and Grow Rich is a classic..and like what Napoleon Hill says in the book…this book will make people millions years after it is published. The biggest take away from the book is forming mastermind..Thanks for coming by Walter
I’m really glad I stumbled upon this post. I agree 100%. It’s so sad and frustrating to see my fellow friends and graduates resort to partying and watching TV after they come home from their new jobs. Learning doesn’t end after college. :)
Nice to meet you Flo, thanks for visiting. You’re 100% right, learning doesn’t stop after college…it only starts.