The value of your health, wealth, relationships, and any area of your life is directly proportional to the time, money, and energy you invest in yourself. If you are not investing in yourself, if you are not growing, your life will stay flat. On the contrary, the more you invest in yourself, the more your life will expand. Prioritizing personal growth by investing in yourself ensures that you can move closer and closer to your ideal life. With this in mind, let’s dive into how to invest in yourself and improve your life starting today by following 10 simple tips.
10 TIPS FOR CREATING YOUR BEST LIFE
Investing in yourself is an individual process. There is no magic formula or method that is effective for everyone.
There are thousands of articles, tutorials, courses, and books on the subject.
Having said that, here are my 10 personal practical tips for investing in yourself.
Some tips may work for you, while others may not.
What matters is to discover which ones work best for you and stick to them.
“When you stop growing you start dying”. - William S. Burroughs
1) READ AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
One of the simplest and most effective ways of investing is reading.
But, no matter how obvious this point may be, still, many of us do not read at all.
However, to develop knowledge and skills to adapt to the world we are living in we should always keep up to date and learn new things every day.
We must in fact understand that the more we read and the more educated we become, the greater the opportunities we can seize will be.
But not all reads are life-changing!
In fact, reading for the sake of entertainment is not beneficial for your future.
On the contrary, reading for the sake of self-education can turn your life around.
“Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune”. - Jim Rohn
Millionaire minds are avid readers!
According to research carried out by Thomas C. Corley, 85% of self-made millionaires read two or more books a month for education and learning purposes.
They read every day to broaden their knowledge and points of view.
The possibility of reading a book on a specific topic, which costs a few dollars, gives you the enormous opportunity to learn in a short time what has perhaps cost the author years and thousands of dollars!
Do you hate reading? No problem. Nowadays there are other tools - podcasts, audiobooks, Youtube, online courses, and seminars - available to you to educate yourself.
You can access whatever subject you are interested in with the snap of a finger.
So, you are left with no excuse for not starting to educate yourself.
2) TEACH WHAT YOU LEARN
Do you know one of the most effective ways to ensure that what you are learning is stored in your mind?
Teaching others; explaining to a child what you have learned is even better.
When you teach children something, you need to make it as simple as possible to pass on the knowledge to them.
With this process, you reinforce the information you are teaching which will be stored forever in your brain.
Would you like to master some knowledge or skills?
Study, practice, and then teach them.
If you cannot explain something in an easy and understandable way you probably haven't understood it well enough, hence you need to revise it.
3) FIND A MENTOR
Did you know that almost every successful person has a mentor?
Here are a few examples:
- Jim Rohn had Mr. Shoaff
- Robert Kiyosaki had the Rich Father
- Donald Trump had his father
- Richard Branson was encouraged to take action by his mother
- Anthony Robbins had, among others, Jim Rohn himself, and so on.
The possibility of having a mentor allows you to have concrete and practical help in starting to do the right actions; perhaps even in the right order.
As a result, achieving your goals will be easier and faster.
In fact, reading alone - while having the great advantage of expanding your knowledge - does not guarantee you the fundamental element for your success, namely action!
I know a lot of people who, despite being book-eaters, basically always live the same life with the same problems.
This happens because between knowledge and its implementation - the concrete actions that must be taken - there are limiting beliefs!
Having a mentor has the advantage of acting on these limitations enabling you to follow through drawing upon your full potential.
What’s more, mentors allow you to collapse time.
They enable you to reach your goals much quicker.
Why?
Because they have been where you are now, and they know the steps you have to take to get where you want to go.
What’s more, thanks to them you will save yourself many mistakes and letdowns.
The mentor represents a port in the storm, a counselor, a motivator, one who is able to open your mind to things that now you find difficult or even impossible.
Choosing mentors in relation to your goals will be your greatest fortune!
4) HANG AROUND WITH GO-GETTERS
Make friends with people with the same goals.
Spend your time with people who bring out the best in you and who inspire you to give your best.
Spending time together and sharing your experiences with the aim of improving each other remains one of the best methods to improve oneself.
If the people we share similar goals with have different approaches to achieving them it is even better.
Think for a moment, if we surround ourselves only with people who think and work exactly as we do, we risk falling into a vicious circle.
Our biases and beliefs strengthen, and as a result, we reject alternative valuable ideas.
Who do you spend most of your time with?
Do you hang around with people who drive you or people who drain you?
What do they influence you to do? Do they inspire you to take massive action towards your goals or, on the contrary, do they act against what is truly important to you?
Make finding go-getters a priority and you’ll be surprised about how your life can take off.
5) TRAVEL, GO AS FAR AS POSSIBLE
The farther you go, the more your view of the world changes.
Traveling opens your eyes.
A 10-hour flight can take you to the other side of the world with different customs and traditions.
Incredible, isn’t it?
But, make sure to be a traveler, not a tourist.
You will never grow and discover a country's culture by going to Starbucks' or Mcdonald's.
Embrace the culture and allow it to shape your identity and become better than what you were when you left home.
6) LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE
“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way”. - Frank Smith
In today’s society, the more languages you know, the easier it is to get around.
In a globalized world, most companies operate more and more internationally.
Hence, they require their employees to have extensive language skills, to be able to communicate with people all over the world.
Furthermore, a survey of UK companies showed that employees with excellent language skills often have a higher salary than others.
It may sound a little strange, but learning a new language will help you stay healthy and fit too.
A study by the University of London found that people who speak two or more languages are less prone to age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer's than their peers.
Another study by the University of Chicago found that learning a foreign language helps you decide better and faster.
Bilingual people are better at making decisions.
A second language can therefore help simplify small and big life choices, making you become more open and willing to take risks.
Knowing a foreign language increases self-confidence and your inclination to communicate with others.
A new language can truly open your horizons!
I hope I have convinced you.
There are so many reasons why you should consider investing in yourself by learning a new language.
7) TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH
You are only as strong as your mind and body allow you to be.
Exercise is a must for good health - we already know that! But, it might surprise you to know that you don’t need to spend hours in the gym to get great health benefits from exercise.
According to the Mayo Clinic, even 30 minutes of exercise a day helps improve health.
So even if you don’t have an hour for working out, get out and walk for 30 minutes - you’ll still get great benefits.
Your body needs exercise to stay fit, and so does your mind.
So, challenge your mind in new ways every day and the results will be apparent almost immediately.
Do crosswords, and puzzles and stay engaged with subjects that interest you, and your mind will be in constant positive activity in order to build new neural pathways for your brain to stay sharp.
8) BUILD ANOTHER SOURCE OF INCOME - START A SIDE HUSTLE
You will never get rich unless you have multiple sources of income.
Likewise, you’ll never become truly free till you trade your time for money as you do in your job.
Chances are you are here today to know how you can boost your finances too.
Why don’t you consider starting a side hustle, the same way I did, i.e. building an online business?
A side hustle if you don’t know yet, is anything that you do to earn money outside of your current job.
Depending on what you want, a side hustle may be a way for earning a few hundred dollars on top of your salary, or a way for replacing it.
A side hustle can be anything from becoming a dog walker, starting a blog, a podcast, a YouTube Channel, becoming an affiliate marketer, having your eCommerce store, or building a freelancing business in your free time.
Side hustles can be time-consuming at the beginning to then - once the system is set and automated - become a source of passive income.
Since starting a side-hustle is one of the most important tips to follow if you want to invest in yourself, I recommend that you investigate the topic further.
Here are 2 books that go into detail and that can change how you look at the way you work forever:
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
- The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau
9) BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
While building relationships may not be financially productive, it certainly is a form of investment in your future.
Quality relationships can extend your lifespan!
A Harvard Study in fact shows that strong social ties can be extremely important for your happiness and health, besides helping you live longer!
A 2005 Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging also found that people who had more real friends tended to outlive those with fewer.
But, who is a real friend?
Someone who stays with us on the brightest days but also on the darkest nights.
A faithful and compassionate companion.
Someone who is always ready to celebrate our victories, but even more, someone who bends over backwards to lift us up every time we fall.
Not Facebook friends or Twitter followers, and not the guy in the café you like to speak about Sunday’s football matches either.
The word friendship has therefore been devalued, almost became useless, and stripped of its most sacred meaning - a bond that goes beyond any form of compensation, but which is based on the pure joy of sharing a deep and mutual connection instead.
Take your life to the next level by investing in building relationships - bear in mind TIP NO. 3
10) KEEP A JOURNAL
Here’s another lifehack that is easy to implement, but that can have an incredible impact on your life - your JOURNAL!
A journal is a physical and mental space in which to write down what occurred during the day, together with notes useful for understanding the facts and for continuing your navigation.
Journaling allows you to stop and take stock of your life, where you are, and where you want to go.
As a result, you live more consciously and less automatically.
It’s the opportunity for you to be completely disconnected from the rest of the world and deeply connected with yourself.
Keeping a journal forces you to take the time to think about what is happening in your life and learn from your mistakes and shape your course of action.
Some consider journaling as a practical way to organize their day, others as a collection of ideas, and others as a refuge for their emotions.
It depends on what you want to do with it.
Bullet journal, gratitude journal, or personal journal, the choice is yours.
Journaling has no limits, other than the number of pages in your notebook.
It's definitely the best way to get in touch with yourself.
Your journal is there to patiently listen to what you have to say with no intention of judging, criticizing, or making you feel less of who you are.
On the contrary, it helps you become aware of the steps you need to take to live your life to the fullest.
A journal is like a friend you can always rely on unconditionally.
A friend who is always there for you, ready to help you.
So, are you still pondering whether keeping a journal is worth it or not?
Grab a notebook and pen and start your journey to the new version of yourself.
HOW TO INVEST IN YOURSELF - JUST START
You can start to make a new stretch today; you can start reading some new books today; you can sign up for some new classes today; in a nutshell, you can start making some life-changing decisions today.
“You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight”. - Jim Rohn
As a result, your future and life will change.
Remember, whatever you reap is what you sow. So, make sure you invest your time, money, and energy wisely.
All you have to do is to start a life-changing process.
Where you start doesn't matter.
You can start with a simple process as a 30-minute walk every day.
The point is to start so that in time you’ll get momentum and you will move from the passenger seat to the driver seat of your life.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
Investing in yourself is unquestionably the most important step you can take to improve your future.
“The best investment you can make is in yourself”. - Warren Buffett
Have you already started investing in yourself?
Are you using any of the 10 tips shared above?
Do you know more than one language, or do you read many books?
Let me know in the comments below and if you have other ways to improve yourself share them with us.
You can be an inspiration for others!
Before you go, if you believe this post is valuable and teaches you how to invest in yourself, would you consider sharing it with your friends?
Give them the opportunity to start creating a better life too
More resources for YOU:
