The Most Important Investment is You and Here's How To Invest In Yourself

We hear all the time about how we should “get into such-and-such investment”. Stocks, mutual funds, and crypto are all the rage just now (and not just for the financial gurus). Sometimes, it makes you want to just turn to that colleague and say: “Ugh! Shut up about Bitcoin already.”

I am not here to tell you to open up your investment accounts and get a broker (although, you may find that a good idea).

I’m here to let you in on an investment secret (that shouldn’t be a secret).

A secret that maybe not even that annoying coworker knows about (but would definitely change their life).

The most important life-changing investment of all is…. *drumroll please*

YOU.

Okay, did that seem a little anti-climactic and clickbaity?

I understand.

You hear all the time about how you should practice self-care and take time to rest and invest in yourself and learn and grow and plant flowers and live in a house that looks like a Pinterest board and only cuddle with white sherpa and drink tea.

If that’s what you thought I meant, I can understand the eye roll.

But that’s not what I’m talking about here.

(Come on, you should know me better by now.)

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that self-care and soft sherpa and chamomile (as you know from my articles here and here), but when I talk about investing in yourself, I mean investing in all the strategic, professional, smart-and-ambitious-career-woman sense of the word.

“But I already do invest in myself!”

If you do, that’s great! But what a lot of us think this means is either only the fuzzy, candle-lit bath sort of way or the down-and-dirty, business-only growth mentality.

And both of these will burn you out (and probably not get you very far in the meantime.)

So why try at all?

Couch-potato to Marathon-champion

We probably both agree that nothing will change later if something doesn’t change now.

It’s unrealistic to expect a different future if you don’t do something different today.

For example, if you want to run a marathon in a year, it would be impractical to assume you can spend all day sitting on a couch or behind a desk, and then just up and run 26.2 miles when the time comes because “that was your goal and it’s a year later!”

You would need to start running today (or at least, tomorrow) to actually get to the point of doing a marathon.

Of course, we know this for things like fitness and training.

But this mindset seems to slip through the cracks when it comes to long-term growth and self-investment.

It’s like we just expect to be a different person a year from now without working toward that every day.  

And obviously, that doesn’t work.

We need a game change over here.

Stop Playing Whack-A-Mole (And Start Playing Monopoly)

We tend to think of self-care and self-investment as short-term games.

I took a bath: self-care.

I treated myself to a white chocolate latte: self-care.

I took a class: self-investment.

But I’m talking about long-form games here. I’m talking about a shift from whack-a-mole to Monopoly.

And that long-form game is played by making tiny shifts every day but tracking your progress over long lengths of time.

Adjust your patterns before your goals.

So many of us big-dreamers, career-chasing, type-A women live our whole lives working toward GIGANTIC size goals… and then wonder why we feel like we’ve never arrived.

But big goals don’t come through osmosis or time travel. You have to peck away at them bit by bit.

And the best way to do that is to change your patterns and habits.

Two, five, or ten years from now, you will be a different person mostly because of your daily life routines and habits are different. That is what will have the most influence on your future progress.

Epiphanies and life-changing events are rare and usually outside of your control.

Your patterns and small life choices are much more in reach and make a much larger impact on your future.

“So how do I boil down major life investments into small-life patterns?”

Here are a few examples of areas in your life you can examine for opportunities for self-investment (i.e. pattern shifting).

Self-confidence

Long-term goal: To be able to stand up for yourself and advocate for your priorities to other people without massive anxiety. To carry yourself with poise and kindness. To value your life and what you can offer. To be sincerely interested in those around you and to know what you have to share with others is valuable.

Short-term patterns: Stand up straight and meet people’s eyes when you speak. Smile. Be kind and respectful to those both above and below you in the workplace. Be more focused on developing a sincere interest in others than you are on getting them to be interested in you. Remember names. Act more confident than you feel inside, and soon you’ll realize you’re not pretending quite as much as you used to.

Health

Long-term goal: To live a healthy and active lifestyle, have the energy to spend time with your family, and work the job you want to. To enable your health as much as possible, and maintain a good quality of life as far as is in your control.

Short-term patterns: Learn how to eat delicious and balanced meals. Move every day. Focus on following others and learning from those who have good relationships with their bodies and nutrition. Learn to listen to your body and what it needs for food, exercise, and lifestyle. Develop fun and healthy routines to clear your mind and work your body! Eat and move based more on how your body feels than on how it looks. The goal is not restriction and guilt, but sustenance, energy, and what feels good and sustainable for you and your long-term lifestyle!

Self-development

Long-term goal: To always be learning, growing, and stretching in new ways. To advance your skills and career, expand your horizons, travel, and build personal awareness.

Short-term patterns: Sign up for a workshop or online class, buy a plane ticket to go somewhere within the next 6-months, try something new, read lots of books, follow people that you admire, be interested in others, and ask good questions. Don’t be afraid of looking stupid, follow your curiosity, and see where it takes you.

Career Development

Long-term goal: To have a career you love, that fulfills you, offers mental stimulation and growth, and involves your passions and interests.

Short-term patterns: Work with a Career Transition coach (like me!), learn about your strengths and weaknesses, and how your strengths can be brought to the workforce. Find out what industry you are most interested in and develop a realistic plan for how to pursue and enter that field.

“But how will this help advance my career?”

Good question! There are a ton of ways this can help in your career, but I’m going to narrow it down to two, big questions (that you can answer for yourself).

Question 1: Who would you rather have work for you?

Sharon has always followed the predictable, safe, and easy path. She got a college degree in personal finance but hasn’t done much personal experience in her industry.

She is a little timid when you talk to her, which is fine, but she gets defensive and loses confidence whenever she makes a mistake.

She does what you ask of her, but nothing more. She’s lived her whole life in the same town, and when you ask her where she sees herself in five years, she says she doesn’t know (and doesn’t seem to care very much either).

She’s nice, you suppose, but can really only carry on two conversation topics: Her financial spreadsheets and her cats.

If you lived her life, it would drive you crazy, because she doesn’t seem to have many personal goals and doesn’t mind living in a rut or staying that way.

OR

Heidi is funny, confident, and driven. She is personally invested in herself, constantly trying to learn and grow, has a taste for adventure and ambition, and has seen something of the world.

She has great people skills and is sincerely interested in others, making her a wonderful conversationalist.

She is always striving for large, personal goals and is developing her daily life patterns to be a better person who is more than just her job.

She is confident and secures in her choices and will own up to her mistakes, which are rare because she is constantly pushing to get better at her work.

She loves her work and goes above and beyond to be excellent and invest in the company.

Question 2: Who would you rather work for?

Karen is good at what she does… if a boss is just supposed to be bossy. She’s a bit insecure and tries to compensate for this by over-extending her authority and being defensive whenever one of her decisions is called into question.

She doesn’t know anything about the job descriptions of those she employs and continually cuts corners to save money.

She takes the easy path explaining her decisions with phrases like: “That’s the way it’s always been done,” or “Because I say so,” even when the standard path is boring, time-wasting, or inefficient.

She isn’t willing to listen to ideas from her employees or cares about their lives outside of the workplace. She seems satisfied that she’s defaulted to a manager level and is indifferent about growing any further both personally and professionally.

OR

Kathy is ambitious, happy, and confident. She’s new to the job and her management position, but she genuinely cares about those who work for her and in the business.

She strives to understand the jobs and needs of her employees and works hard for both their satisfaction and the satisfaction of her clients and customers.

She knows a good idea when she hears one and is happy to receive feedback or questions from those around her.

She adjusts her work habits and lifestyle as needed to meet healthier and better goals and is always looking for ways to make the workplace better, faster, and more satisfying. 

I think that’s easy.

Kathy and Heidi over Sharon and Karen each and every time!

Whether you work for someone or have people that work for you, investing in yourself is absolutely career-changing AND life-changing.

Do you have things you would add to your long-term goals or short-term patterns? Let me know! I’d love to hear your plans!

If you’re feeling stuck in life, keep these points in mind:

•  Find ways and time to invest in both your short and long-term goals.
•  Learn to say no as often as you must in order to achieve those goals.
•  Make time for yourself.
•  Short-term patterns >= long-term goals

P.S. If you’d like help in understanding how to start investing in yourself, you can set up a 60-minute Power Hour with me during which we’ll take a deep dive into the topic(s) of your choosing and come up with a game plan for you to move forward.