No surprise, the best place to invest your money is in yourself. The rate of return in new skills or knowledge will always out-pace any stock or piece of real estate on any day. Now the ROI sometimes may be a bit tricky to calculate. A good idea is to look at what you spent on your personal development and what results ended up happening.
Perhaps you bought a book or an audio program and were so inspired, it gave you a fantastic business or productivity idea. This sort of result goes far beyond monetary. It can be life changing. So what is increased productivity, a higher income, or more freedom in your life worth to you?
An idea I gathered up from observing other successful people is that you should always budget part of your money on your own personal development. I have one friend that spends $3,000 every year with the sole intention of going out and meeting interesting people. You should adopt the same idea yourself because the return on investment is well worth it.
Now its fine if you do not have $3,000 dollars to spend. Instead, try and budget a percentage of your money a year that your comfortable with. For example, 3% is what most use. It is the amount advocated by Brian Tracy. I like 3% because it is certainly not going to break the bank for most people, but at the same time it can be significant enough to make a change. Just do the math and come up with whatever 3% of your yearly income is and make it a point to spend that much on yourself.
You could spend your money on a gym membership, personal development courses, seminars, or equipment to participate in a new sport or activity. Or you could be like my friend and try and meet interesting people every year. Whatever you decide to do, just remember to invest in yourself. The returns are amazing, and all the smart people do this because they understand the inherent value in spending money on yourself.
Cheap individuals, or the short sighted pass over growth opportunities because they only look at the upfront financial cost and not the long term return. Don’t be like this. Spend your money on courses and products you think will help you achieve your goals.
David Utke is the creative force behind a culturally relevant personal development blog that’s awesome.
Article Source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/personal-development-explained
Happy investing!
Coach Morse
Isn’t it funny that we feel we need permission to work on our personal development? Shouldn’t this be expected?
Fortunately, I am in a relationship where my efforts to improve my life are applauded and supported. We don’t budget a specific percentage, but we consider every opportunity for personal development that comes our way and determine whether it’s right for us, either as individuals or as a couple.