"The best investment you can make is to invest in yourself - The more you learn, the more you'll earn". - Warren Buffet
Let me make the above concept crystal clear by means of a story.
I guess you have already come across Aesop’s fable, “The Ant and the Grasshopper”.
The story of an Ant busy gathering provisions to face the upcoming winter and the Grasshopper, “busy” basking in the sun and not worrying about the cold season.
If you have never heard about it, here is my own version of it.
This story is a metaphor for my personal life experience and hopefully will give you some insights that could positively have a great impact on your life.
It all boils down to investing in ourselves in order to have a greater future and be prepared for the upcoming challenges that life will present us on our journey.
THE ANT & THE GRASSHOPPER
Once upon a time on a beautiful Spring morning, there was a singing Grasshopper that didn’t like to work.
It just wanted to chill out all day long, basking in the sun and singing the same song over and over again.
One day a family of Ants passed by the Grasshopper.
They were carrying many seeds, grains, sticks, and other useful materials to build new anthills and store plenty of provisions for the winter.
The Grasshopper was amazed at seeing how hard the Ants were working.
Being intrigued, it got close and asked them:
“Why are you carrying all that load?”
“How can you work on such a sunny day?” One of the Ants promptly replied:
“We are gathering provisions for the next winter, we want to make sure we have built more than one anthill and we have enough food to survive throughout the cold season”!
The Grasshopper laughed and said: “Why should you worry about winter when the cold season is so far from now? Come and join me, let’s have fun together!
The wise Ants turned down the invitation, suggested the Grasshopper joined them and said:
“It is going to be a long and tough winter, you had better start storing your food too and you should also build a cozy shelter so that you will live comfortably throughout the winter”!
“What silly advice”, replied the Grasshopper.
“It’s spring now, why should I work my ass off when there is a lot of food now, and winter is so far away? There will be time later to start storing food and build a shelter”!
Throughout the Spring, Summer, and Autumn the Grasshopper did nothing except sing, eat and sleep.
The days and months went by very quickly and the cold winter came.
All of a sudden the Grasshopper found itself bewildered, it couldn’t find any food or a place where to spend the freezing cold nights.
It was used to being lazy all the time and just indulging in instant gratification, singing, eating, sleeping, etc.
It was not physically and mentally prepared to overcome such a challenging situation, and it ended up dying miserably.
On the other hand, the family of Ants was prepared to face the cold winter and they went through it easily.
They spent all the cold season partying and chilling out.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS STORY
This story brings an important lesson with it!
The choices we make and the action we take today dictate what our future is going to be.
We can either choose an easy life today and face a tougher life later, like the Grasshopper, or we can learn from the Ants, and work our ass off today, invest in ourselves, and build a better future.
I personally chose to behave like the Ants!
Last summer, when I was put on furlough due to Covid-19, I realized that I couldn't rely on my salary only.
I asked myself: “How could I survive if I lost my job”?
I decided to invest in myself and learn the digital skills to adapt to the World’s changes.
Learning how to sell products and services online seemed to be the best option considering that the digital economy has skyrocketed.
I enrolled in an online business course and since then, I have been working my tail off to create a business that could serve me in the future.
A business that could provide a secondary income stream, and in time replace my traditional job.
If I had wasted all my furloughed time taking life easy and spending all my day watching TV series as most of my friends did now I would definitely regret it.
It’s never too late to start investing in your future, if you want to take the same steps I did, I strongly recommend you to watch the same video series that got me started online.
You can get access to it at the end of this post.
Just picture, how would your life look like in one year if you mastered the digital skills and run your own online business?
You might be able to generate a second income stream or maybe you might even replace your traditional salary and just be working for yourself online.
Wouldn't it be great?
Hope to hear from you soon!
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Perhaps there is another interpretation as to why the ants were more successful. They were part of a community and worked for the common good and could benefit from being part of that community as well as contributing to it, and, of course, they were surrounded by like-minded ants and I am sure experienced rich inter-formic relationships.
What a wonderful interpretation. I fully agree with you Judith, being surrounded by like-minded people is one of the driving forces that can propel you towards your goals in life.
Whats’s more you are accountable to the community you belong to and so this is a further reason for pursuing your objectives.
This is exactly what I have been experiencing with the community of digital entrepreneurs I belong to.
I found a genuine place where all the people help each other to become a better version of themselves and create a lifestyle with more time, freedom, and financial independence.
it’s really easy to feel overwhelmed nowadays, but if you have somebody who has your back you feel much more reassured.