BUT FIRST, YOU: SELF-INVESTMENT AND ITS IMPORTANCE

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The best investment you can ever make is in yourself. Quite often I get asked by friends, acquaintances, and family why I am so resilient and unwavering in the goals I set for myself and my answer has always been the same: I am my biggest investment and if I don’t invest in myself first, who will?

The definition of self-investment is really simple for me to start with. It is simply investing or contributing time and energy in myself and and in my happiness. Whether it’s investing in developing yourself personally or professionally, developing a skill you already have, learning a completely new skill, or making healthy lifestyle choices, you need to give to yourself first before you can give to others or expect others to give to you.

So why is investing in yourself so important?

Investing in yourself is the only one guaranteed investment you can make. Not only are you the person you have to spend the most time with, you also get to see an immediate return on the investments you make in yourself. By investing in yourself you are also ensuring that you are well-taken care of in the future.

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Investing in yourself shows the world, yourself included, your potential and caliber. By investing in yourself you are telling the world that the value you posses is important enough to invest the time, energy, money, and space to grow and stand out in a crowd.

So if you feel you deserve more self-care and self-love, here are some great ways to invest in your own welfare (in no particular order):

1. Set goals. Not setting goals is like driving in the dark with no headlights; you’d not only be getting nowhere but you’d also be wasting your time. Consider what exactly it is you want to achieve including the steps you need to take to achieve it, and then commit to it. Make sure you set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) goals.
2. Face your fears. It is not easy to face your fears and push through them, but it is essential. It is normal to want to avoid the things you fear. However, avoidance prevents you from learning that the things you fear are not as dangerous as you think. Face your fears where you can, and deconstruct them where you can’t. Invest in building your self-confidence.
3. Realize who you are and what your true needs are. Knowing yourself is the most important skill you can ever possess. Be true to who you are. When you know who you are, you will finally see where you and your specific gifts fit into the bigger picture. Establish and differentiate between what you truly need as opposed to what you simply want.
4. Invest in your health. Usually when there are more tasks at hand, proper eating and exercise are one of the first and easiest healthy habits to let go off. Being healthy is the best way to ensure that your other investments in life, such as being productive at work and completing tasks you have at hand, keep up. Investing in your health could be as simple as drinking more water every day, taking a walk every evening, or even signing up for that CrossFit class you’ve been thinking about taking. Do something daily to invest in your health and you will be sure to reap many hours of well-lived life from them.
5. Be curious and follow your curiosity. Curiosity fuels our imagination. A lot of time we stop being curious about new experiences as we assume responsibilities and build routines. Never stop being curious. Keep and work on your drive to learn, explore, invent, etc. The more your pursue your curiosity the more you discover amazing things about your life and the world. Pursuing your curiosity also helps you discover what you can do now and in the future. Being curious is fundamental to your success.
6. Invest in your happiness. Happiness is a choice. Do what makes you happy. Surround yourself by people and things that bring you happiness at no cost to your mental health. Try to focus on the positive aspects of life, rather than the negative. Now I am not saying you have to be overly optimistic at all times, after all we are human and we all have those days where we aren’t feeling our best. What I am saying is to try not to be held hostage by your circumstances. Even on those days where we aren’t feeling our best, try to find a reason or reasons to be grateful.
7. Block out distractions. I get it, we all use social media and want to stay up to date with everything going on. But in order to invest in yourself, you need to set boundaries against these distractions. Monitor the amount of time you spend on social media or whatever your personal distraction is especially when you know there are more pressings and important tasks at hand. Whenever you catch yourself procrastinating on completing tasks that will benefit you in some way, remind yourself that you are only delaying your success.
8. Invest in your future. The most literal way to invest in yourself is simply saving and investing! Specifically through a retirement account or a savings account of some sort. Save! Save! Save! A retirement and/or savings account is one of the smartest ways to make sure that you have a sound and secure future. And even though you might have to sacrifice a little bit today in order to make it happen, you are still investing in yourself — just a little bit further in the future!