Invest in YOU! What Does It Mean to Invest in Yourself?

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” ―Ralph Waldo Emerson

What have you done recently to invest in yourself? Do you know what it means to invest in yourself? Did you know that investing in yourself is active process that requires regular attention, but can pay you unimaginable dividends? This post will get you thinking about what you can do to invest yourself, help you identify the ways you probably already are investing in yourself, and provide you a basic framework of how personal investments work.

What does it mean to invest in myself?

I’m a big fan of the belief that we all have special gifts to share with the world. If you take the time to polish them, develop them, and grow them, they reward you well beyond what you put in. That is what an investment is. An investment is something that you have because you hope that in the future it will appreciate or grow in value.

How do I invest in myself?

You can learn a new skill. You can improve an existing skill. You can broaden your network. You can improve your health. You can do all of these. The important thing is that you spend time thinking about how you hone your gifts and improve yourself, and then you work to that end. What goes in must come out. If you put in the necessary work, you will be rewarded accordingly.

Investing in yourself doesn’t have to be some grand gesture. Often it’s not grand at all. Investing in yourself could be as small as reserving five minutes of each day to learn something or as large as pursuing a degree. First, identify your personal portfolio then get to work!

How do I identify my current personal portfolio?

Take a moment and think about what skills you have. What comes to you naturally? Some people are great with other people. Some are great with technology. Some are great with animals. Whatever it is, think about what raw talents you have. That is your personal portfolio. Investing in yourself means taking your raw personal portfolio and enacting a plan to increase your value by taking it to the next level.

Conclusion

Investing in yourself means looking at yourself and determining that you are worth your own time. You are worth your money. You are worth your effort. You are.