In a world where everyone is chasing big fashion, luxury cars, and Bitcoins, the investments we make can mean a lot. In fact, most of us are stuck in a never ending cycle to learn more about investing, ultimately increasing our capital and overall net worth. In doing so, we become more independent, powerful, and meaningful. The list of adjectives can go on and on.
But what if you were told that your biggest investment ever was… you? Yes, you, with your own weaknesses and toxic patterns; with your low self-esteem or chronic stress, with no work-life balance.
If these words seem so familiar, you know what we’re talking about.
Every person has got the inner strength, or ‘resource’. You can either act to fill it up or drain it. There’s no neutral ground when it gets to self-care and self-improvement. Refilling your heart with something that builds you up, encourages you, motivates you, and helps you become better is how you invest in yourself.
This read will reveal more specific ideas and push you to a deeper understanding of what the best investment in yourself is like and how to keep investing every single day. You will find the answer to the question ‘What is personal development?’ and ‘How can I achieve it?’
If you long to feel better, and live a more balanced purpose-filled life, it’s high time to find out the 10 most effective ways to invest in yourself. Let’s get started!
1. Nurture Your Mind and Body
Mental and physical health are the markers that show the quality of human life. In a research made back in 2018 in Canada, almost half of the surveyed said that financial hardships influence their mental health in a negative way. Different factors can add up to stress and burnout but what can actually make it better?
According to Global Health and Pharma, there are top things that help:
- Being physically active
- Eating well
- Dealing with mental health issues
- Socializing
- Spending quality time alone
If you feel constant fatigue and lack of strength, consider changes in your diet and body care. Eat more whole foods, grains, and veggies, and choose between plant and responsibly grown animal proteins. Consider adding 1 hour of night sleep and altering your routine so that there’s enough of it.
Being included in a social group, and having a friend or permanent partner who can be relied on is also the biggest factors helping your mind heal.
One Trick to Exercising When You Don’t Want To
We’ve all been there: scrolling through social media or lying on the sofa missing our workout sessions. When exercising is the last thing you would do, try this:
- Show up to the gym.
Simply coming will immerse you in this exercising environment so you’ll form a habit quicker. While at first, it will feel like leaving the comfort zone, you’ll get used to it and form a ritual. As a bonus, buy yourself a nice workout suit to enjoy a new look.
Still, we’ll live not by exercising alone! In case you’re dissatisfied with some aspects of your physical health, for example, weight, you can find quick solutions like safe body contouring. Visiting a doctor for thorough and regular planned checkups will also be worth the time. It’s an investment you make into yourself both for tomorrow and for the long run.
2. Set Goals
Where would the human race be if the great people of the past didn’t set any life goals?
Choose something you’re passionate about, that will make you feel more complete and fruitful. Set achievable goals, for example, not ‘Learn French till the end of the year’ but ‘get A2 by New Year’.
Avoid vague formulations and don’t forget to reward yourself. Try to set good personal goals but not too many: one at a time will be great. All in all, keep them SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-based.
3. Keep a Journal
Journals are versatile tools that can help you focus on the spheres you need the most growth in (finance, study, interpersonal relationships, creativity, etc.).
Writing a journal is proven effective to reduce stress, identify problems more clearly, and track progress.
4. Develop Your Skills
Growing better in certain areas of life is just a part of the whole lifelong learning concept. You don’t have to embrace many areas but pick the one where your heart is.
5. Utilize Available Training
In a world with so many development opportunities and online tools, it’s simply a crime not to grow up to the desired result. Use online courses such as Udemy, FutureLearn, Clever Girl Finance, Binance, and other non-standard educational platforms to achieve professional and personal growth.
Start small: one financial literacy lesson per week can result in a changed attitude and wiser purchases in a lifetime!
Browse for available courses at your university or college, or partnering universities abroad: oftentimes students can use tons of resources free! If pursuing a goal alone makes you tired, find a mentor who can lead and show the example.
Attend Seminars and Workshops to Retain Existing Levels of Your Skills
Obtaining new abilities makes your brain work better and longer, that is true. But in the chase for new, don’t neglect the skills you already have. Sharpen them by attending available training and seminars, especially the ones recommended by the Ministry of Education or advised by your friends and colleagues. This will help you top up work or study performance.
6. Get Organized and Declutter Your Stuff
Do old and broken things give you a sense of purpose and freedom? Cut them out! Not necessarily put them in the garbage. Good things you don’t need might find new grateful owners.
Start organizing your fridge, wardrobe, and drawers with supplies in a neat and simple to clean way: with organizers, drawer dividers, and bins.
7. Break Your Bad Habits
What would change a year after you quit one bad habit? If there’s a thing you would be thankful to yourself that you’ve broken, get out of this habit at all costs.
This might be a less obvious thing than smoking: spending too much on clothes, procrastinating, turning down friendly get-togethers, just anything!
Surely you will make mistakes and this isn’t a one-step journey. Finding a friend who works on themselves and supporting each other in this will help you stay on the route.
Replacing 1 damaging habit with 1 good one (like, for instance, finding time to help others) will be life-changing.
8. Read
No, we won’t impose any limits like ‘read at least 1 book a month!’ because they will only make you feel guilty in case you don’t.
Just read. Find the time to do it with a frequency comfortable for your lifestyle. Hard copy books or e-books, in foreign languages or in your mother tongue, — reading books is relevant anyway, it doesn’t matter what format is chosen.
Find a Creative Outlet
Creative energy needs to have an audience! If you write standups, play an instrument, paint canvases, or do something else beautifully, come out and share it. Creative outlets can open up new ways to be yourself. Watching other people in moments of creation is truly inspiring as well.
10. Get Out of Debt
Debts are useful if they’re temporary. On the other hand, owing money for too long makes you feel inferior.
We aren’t saying you should stop all credits immediately. Still, getting more financially independent and able to invest and grow as soon as possible makes you another kind of man who adds up to your wellbeing!
Let’s Summarize
Hopefully, these tips will let you live a more free life and become a better version of yourself every day. With these ideas, you will both avoid wasting the experiences and knowledge you already carry and at the same time will reach new horizons. Trying to live every tip out will get you to a place of greater self-confidence, new opportunities, and a sense of balance.
Take them as your guidelines and listen to your heart — this is the best way to invest in personal development!
