Investing in yourself is one of the investments less spoken about. When we speak about investing we typically talk about financial goals in the distant future or putting away money to live a certain lifestyle in retirement. Investing in yourself without any financial input can be done by investing your time, hard work, or other non-monetary assets you have. Simply taking a few extra hours a week to learn a new skill can become a valuable investment down the line. Investing in yourself is typically on a shorter scale, these goals are set for 1-3, 5-7, or 10 years. These investments in yourself will help you to achieve your goals 10+ years down the line and improve yourself during the journey. Investing in yourself allows you to create a better foundation for you to be able to help others, advance your career, and become a better version of yourself.
There are many ways a person can invest in themselves, what I recommend is developing end goals and mean goals. An end goal is something that brings you fulfillment. While a mean goal is the steps you take today to be able to achieve that end goal. An example of an end goal would be that I want to develop a better reputation for myself at work. Mean goals can be developed in order to achieve this such as showing up early to work or taking on extra projects. After achieving this end goal your actions could lead to a promotion or a raise resulting in career advancement and building a better foundation for yourself to be able to help others and achieve your long-term goals.
The issue with mean and end goals is that similar to financial investment in many cases it takes consistency and commitment to be able to gain the benefits from your investment. While taking on extra projects may get you a pat on the back it is not till you do an outstanding job on a consistent basis that you will get recognized. This commitment can be very difficult for many people and may result in them getting discouraged if they do not get the recognition they are seeking. It is important that once you have set a goal that you stick with it and understand through your hard work you will get what you deserve and even if that doesn’t come in monetary recognition you are sure to gain experience and learn things that will be beneficial to you, your career, and your goals.
Investing in yourself doesn’t always have to be about moving forward either. It can be just as important to preserve and maintain the progress you have already made. It can be important to take a pause and evaluate where you currently are mentally, physically, emotionally and more in order to make sure you are able to perform at 100% when you need to. There is no point in building on an old broken foundation, it will only result in the collapse of all your hard work. Instead, take a step back solidify the assets you have and then begin to improve yourself taking small steps along the way.
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The Rich College Student 