During our money talk on the One Eight Zero Podcast, we covered various financial topics, from purchase decision-making, budgeting, and investing, to side hustles and managing a YouTube account. Maybe because I was too excited about all of the insightful tips being given, I wasn’t paying enough attention when we discussed the topic of self-investment. However, when I was editing the interview, I realized that this concept should be elaborated beyond the medium of a podcast episode.
When it comes to managing your money, the best outcome would primarily result from having invested it wisely and consistently over a long-term period. Hence, it is logical to put your money into an asset that will always yield returns with the least amount of risks: yourself. At the end of the day you are, by all means, the primary source of your wealth. Therefore, if you have time, money, attention and effort, you would want to allocate a good chunk of those to yourself.
“But Nick …. how do I invest in myself?”
Well, I’m glad you asked. Although there are various ways to do this, here are a few simple actionable examples:
Invest in your health and well – being
In today’s society, we are encouraged to work hard and hustle to accumulate wealth to a ridiculous extent. I completely agree with the notion that everyone should be persistent and dedicated when it comes to their dreams. However, it should not come at the expense of your well-being. Why should one obtain a great amount of wealth with the sole purpose of paying their hospital bills? Additionally, by optimizing your health you can in fact boost your productivity and in many aspects, your ability to generate income. Here are a few simple things that you can do for yourself:
- Get 7-8 hours of sleep consistently. Work hard when you are awake. Sleep like a baby when you need to.
- Have some 10-minute break intervals (stretching or walking) between your screen time. The pandemic has forced all of us to take on remote working sessions more seriously. On the bright side, it gives us flexibility and convenience. However, it can be very tiring or even daunting to sit in front of your desktop or laptop for a long period of time. Plus, if you keep it up, cases of serious back and neck pain are bound to surface in due time. All of this can be delayed with some minor active breaks and pauses.
- Pick whole foods over processed alternatives whenever you can. Whole foods are better, and, in my opinion, tastier in almost every single circumstances.
Invest in your knowledge
It is your skillset and experience that are the main determinations of your income, employability and marketability. Stocks and real estate may crash, but the skills that you have obtained and sharpened will always stay with you. Here are some examples of how one can invest in their knowledge:
- Invest half an hour every day to learn a skill. This could either be bettering a current skill that you possess, or acquiring a new one. Doing this will help you to become exponentially valuable to the market through time.
- Read 1 book a month (ideally about something you NEED to know). In today’s society, books are still essentials for your self-development journey. Not only do they boost your attention span and help delay the urge of gratification, they, mostly, provide concise and structural knowledge for you.
- Teach your friend or family about something new that you’ve just learned. When you try to explain new concepts to others, you can find out how thorough your understanding is of those topics. Or you can turn it into a cliche statement, enlightenment will come when you share your knowledge.
Final thoughts
Overall, I hope this short article can bring some inspiration to how you should budget time and money for yourself.
I truly believe that if you put in the time, effort and money into bettering yourself, you will see an exceptional transformation throughout the years.
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How are you investing in yourself?