The phrase “Invest In Yourself” has taken off in the past few years…
But why is that?
We hear it all the time – to invest in stocks, bonds, and businesses, but investing in yourself is a somewhat new concept.
Or is it really new?
Investing is usually related to the financial area, but it can also be applied to who we are as people.
This is where the terms “self-improvement” or self-help come in.
It’s a given that most people do change and mature as they grow older, in one way or another, but this type of change may be slow and forced.
It’s said that change only happens when the person accepts that he/she truly wants to change now, not because of external or superficial reasons where that type of motivation for change doesn’t last long.
If this is your first time hearing the phrase “Investing In Yourself,” don’t worry as in this blog, I’ll list 5 super simple ways you can do that.
- Read Books And Apply What You’ve Learned Immediately After
This is a big one for me.
Just by reading a few books, or watching video tutorials online, I learned so much. I learned important lessons and countless wisdom from those who came before me and achieved so much.
I used to think reading was only for school.
After I finished university, I was so glad because I thought that I didn’t need to read any boring books anymore.
But I was wrong!
And I was wasting so much potential in myself.
You see, reading books will give you the knowledge and wisdom you need to succeed more than the average person nowadays.
Most people don’t actually read books, whether fiction or non-fiction, and they’re losing out on so many opportunities for growth.
Reading is one of the habits that has mostly benefits and upsides.
You will learn.
You will improve your vocabulary.
You will get smarter.
You will be seen as an intelligent person if other people see you reading a book.
One important lesson I learned from reading is this: “Any skill can be improved and mastered by any human being.”
I learned it from Carol Dweck’s Mindset book.
This important lesson should be known by EVERYONE in this world.
But, a good number of people don’t because they don’t read, which is heartbreaking to see.
ACTION STEP: Pick one book you want to read.
Search Google now for “Top 10 Books in ____” fill in the blank with whatever genre you want.
Buy one book you want, and commit to reading that book for the next 30 days.
Read even just 1-5 pages per day.
Make this a habit, track it on apps like HabitShare.
After you read it, pick one lesson you learned, write it down on your notes, and apply it to your life.
My top 10 recommended reads for anyone looking to get started in reading books and improving their lives would be:
- Mindset – Carol Dweck
- The Magic of Thinking Big – David Schwartz
- The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy
- Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki
- How to Win Friends & Influence People – Dale Carnegie
- Atomic Habits – James Clear
- The Psychology of Money – Morgan Hounsel
- Can’t Hurt Me – David Goggins
- Who Moved My Cheese? – Spencer Johnson
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck – Mark Manson
- Find A Way To Exercise More
Physical fitness is literally one of the best things you can do for yourself as a person.
It’s another hobby that has mostly benefits and upsides.
Exercising is recommended by most doctors for a good reason.
It improves your overall health, including physical and mental health.
Your lifespan gets a lot longer when you regularly exercise.
Now, exercising doesn’t mean that you have to spend hours and hours lifting weights at the gym if that’s not what you want.
There are multiple ways to exercise the body without lifting weights.
Some people I know do calisthenics which is lifting your body weight. Doing pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, push-ups, leg raises, air squats, etc.
Some people do yoga.
Some people do running or jogging a few times a week, and they choose anywhere with an open space.
Some people do swimming at the pool.
Some people do rock climbing at climbing centers or at actual mountains.
Some people play different sports such as football, basketball, volleyball, tennis, badminton, cricket, baseball, rounders, rugby, etc.
Some people even do martial arts such as Karate, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Kung fu, Taekwondo, Kickboxing, Wrestling, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kali, Judo, etc.
I personally got involved in Weightlifting, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Krav Maga, Cricket, Squash and Kabaddi.
The list is almost endless on what type of exercise you can do! I would advise to pick up any physical activity that resonates the most with you.
ACTION STEP: Pick one exercise from the list that you find most interesting and start doing it 2-3 times a week.
If you can do it with a group, that would be much better.
- Practice Your Social Skills, Talk To People More, and Befriend Good People
They say that “No Man Is An Island.”
It’s an old quote that many people agree with, but some people disagree with (especially the “lone wolves”).
Based on science, humans are naturally social animals.
We can’t live without depending on each other, especially as we have different skills and capabilities.
That’s why you need to learn how to communicate to other people and find and make friends that will be a good influence on you.
If there’s a true life hack for most people, it’s having family, friends, and a support system of other people who will help you with your goals in life.
When you are struggling with your goals, the people around you will either help you or discourage you.
They will lift you up or bring you down.
The difference between having a supportive group of friends versus a toxic group of friends is night and day.
You can literally ruin your life if you choose to spend time with the wrong type of people (I learnt this the hard way!)
That being said, how do we practice our social skills?
Isn’t talking to other people a natural skill for any human being?
Unfortunately, not everyone was taught how to meet people and make friends.
Some have a really hard time even approaching people.
But you don’t have to worry though, like any skill, this can be learned and improved.
ACTION STEP: The next time you’re commuting on a bus or train, or when you’re waiting in line for your coffee, talk to the person next to you.
Ask a simple question or make a simple observation and tell them.
You don’t have to have a full conversation with them.
Just a very quick small talk will do.
If you’re a really shy person, this will definitely help you go out of your comfort zone and improve your social skills.
I would also suggest initiating conversation with people everywhere you go, both online and offline.
For online, you can join Facebook groups that you’re interested in and reach out to other people via DM’s after commenting on their post in the group.
For real life, you can join events and meet-ups through EventBrite, Meetup.com, Fatsoma, and following event pages on social media that advertises when events are happening.
I would even go as far as challenging yourself to go to a social event solo.
Yes, it will feel intimidating being in a venue surrounded with complete strangers and people you don’t know.
The more people you speak to, the more comfortable you’ll feel and when you keep doing this, eventually your approach anxiety will vanish and before you know it, you will find yourself to be socially confident and outgoing.
For example, I have challenged myself to go to events solo multiple times.
There was an occasion where actress Elizabeth Henstridge (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) was hosting an event at the University of Birmingham where she was being interviewed about her experience working on the set of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D which is a Marvel TV-series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Now many people would find it nerve-wrecking to talk to a celebrity, so I challenged myself to strike a conversation with Elizabeth. I won’t lie, the nerves got to me but I forced myself to push through it and I’m glad I did in the end.
- Meditate A Few Minutes A Day
This is a really common habit that has become mainstream in the past two decades.
You might think that only monks do this, but it can be done by anyone.
And it has multiple benefits for us too.
Meditating for as little as 5 minutes a day can have a great effect on reducing your stress, minimizing your negative emotions, and increasing your patience.
The calmest people I know make it their habit to meditate almost daily.
It’s also really simple to do too.
You can sit on a chair or lie on your bed, close your eyes, relax, and breathe in and out deeply and slowly. Repeat it for the next 5 minutes and you’re done.
If you’re a person who regularly overthinks, then you need to do this habit now.
It’s one of the simplest things we can do and it might be one of the best things we can do for ourselves – physically, mentally, and spiritually.
ACTION STEP: In your room, sit on your bed, and try to meditate for 1 minute only.
Yes, you read that right, 1 minute.
It’s better if you start this small so that you can build the habit much easier and faster. You’ll also have a higher chance of sticking with it.
You can do this now – grab your phone, set a timer for 1 minute, and meditate.
Once you’re done, you can now successfully call yourself a person who meditates.
Do this for at least 30 days, as you do it longer, add more minutes until you can reach 5-10 minutes a day.
I personally practice breathing exercises along with the Gayatri Mantra every morning and I make sure to track my meditation habits on the HabitShare app.
You can also download the ‘Medito’ app from the App Store / Google Play Store and follow along the guided meditation.
- Get A Mentor On A Subject You’re Interested In (If you can afford it)
Aside from the 3rd point which is befriending good people, this is the fastest way you can improve as a person and at any skill you want.
It’s one of the best investments you can make, and it’s also the most expensive in this list if you choose to pay someone for their expertise.
Let’s say you want to improve at playing guitar, then you hire a guitar teacher who will teach you for the next few weeks at least.
If you want to lose weight or build muscle quickly, you hire a fitness trainer.
If you want to improve at football, you hire a football trainer.
It sounds like common sense, but many people actually overlook this tip.
People say they can improve on their own, which is possible, but hiring a mentor or teacher on anything will fast-track anyone’s progress.
But for this case, you need to be willing to invest some cash in it.
If the mentor is a good one, they will be the reason why you’ll get more results or success in the next coming weeks or months.
If possible, try to befriend people who are happy to mentor you and hold you accountable for different aspects of life. It’s even better when you have good friends to mentor you and hold you accountable without having to splurge out loads of money.
For example, I connected with a good friend of mine Bryant, who’s American based. When we messaged online, he gave me lots of helpful pointers that helped me to level up in all aspects of my life.
We eventually met up in London when he travelled from the USA to UK for work.
I even hired the same fitness coach as Bryant and this decision has helped transform my physique in ways I couldn’t imagine compared to if I went to the gym by myself and tried to “figure it out on my own” which I wouldn’t recommend anyone to do.
I pay around $100 per month for the workout program and it’s by far one of the best investments I’ve ever made in my life.
Time is precious, if you know someone who’s already figured it out and can help you get there faster, I would advise you to seek help from them.
ACTION STEP: Once you have saved up some money, pick an area you want to improve on and either buy a course or hire a mentor/teacher in that area.
If you want to start small, buy an online course. If you want to invest more and get more results quickly, hire a mentor to train you.
Just make sure you do some research first. Be aware that there are a lot of scammers and con artists out there who do not have your best interests.
It’s your responsibility to make sure the mentor or teacher is legitimate and have already produced consistent results for their students or mentees.
Search online for one in your area or in your country at least so that there will be less cultural and language differences.
If coaching is too expensive for you, you can look into purchasing online courses or books on kindle. You only pay once and you are granted lifetime access to the learning material. Now that’s a great offer when you view it from this perspective!
I personally have invested a lot in online courses from websites like Udemy, LinkedIn Learning & Fiverr Learning as well as undertaken coaching in social skills, lifestyle and self-confidence.
I’ve also saved up and invested $1000s on editing software, equipment, subscription services like Adobe Creative Cloud and plug-ins to improve the quality of my content which in turn helps me to attract more clients for photo & video editing.
How Will You Invest In Yourself Now?
Here’s a quote that you need to ponder on “Investing in yourself might be the best investment you can make in your lifetime.”
Indeed, working on ourselves will give us tenfold of good results and improve our lives by a ton.
Now you know the importance of betting on yourself.
Play to win, don’t play to not lose.
What are you waiting for?
Do not let anyone who says that this is a “waste of time or money” fool you. I want you to think both long-term and delayed gratification.
The most successful people I know are the ones who invest in themselves the most.
Some of them even spend millions of dollars in investing in themselves.
How about you?
How will you invest in yourself today?
It can be in the form of any of the following:
- Video Editing Software (Adobe Creative Cloud, Final Cut Pro, Da Vinci Resolve)
- DAW for Music Editing (Logic Pro, FL Studio, Ableton Live)
- Canon, Sony, GoPro’s, Fujifilm Camera’s for Photography and Filming
- Gimbals, Tripods, Lenses, Boom Microphones
- Paid Mobile Apps (InShot, LumaFusion, Sleep Cycle, MyFitnessPal etc.)
- Books on kindle or Audible
- Online courses to learn monetizable skills
- Gym memberships, mentorships
- Joining a community
Let me know in the comments and share your progress.
Written by Baz Kannan. Edited by Kevin Pinili
