Investing in Yourself - Why it's the Best Decision You'll Ever Make

What Does it Mean to Invest in Yourself?

If you've ever heard the phrase, "pay yourself first," then you've already got a good picture of what it means to invest in yourself. This is what financial gurus use when advising you to automatically put money from each paycheck into your savings account, as if it were an expense on its own. Pay yourself before you invest your money elsewhere.

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That's fine and good, but investing in yourself is more than just building your savings account - though this is a fantastic step one for both financial security and mindset building (more on that later).

Investing in yourself also means viewing yourself as your greatest asset.

Yeah, I said it.

You are your most reliable investment, because you control you.

If this sounds "duh" to you, then congratulations! You have successfully unpacked any previous traumas and developed a strong sense of self - I'm jealous!

For the rest of us, this is a work in progress.

For those of you reading this who feel like this is an earth-shattering revelation - welcome to the club where the working-your-shit-out phase is ongoing and we drink tea with our pinkies out to cope. Let’s read on.

Why Investing in Yourself Can Feel Difficult

If you are one of the aforementioned peeps who feel like you're still working on building your self, investing into you can feel downright foreign.

You may not feel good enough, or ready enough, or smart enough, or capable enough.

I have tread water in that same ocean before. It's exhausting.

Come to shore for a minute, and open your mind to the good things coming.

Investing in yourself may feel indulgent when you don't feel worthy. It can feel frivolous or self-centered when you have not had an example of someone with a healthy drive toward goal getting. Or worse, you have been actively communicated the message that you are not worth investing in.

Maybe you're worried about investing - in anything - for fear that you won't get your investment back, and will be facing a sense of personal defeat.

If spending money is normalized on a Target spree, then why can't we normalize putting our dollars and time into ourselves?

Spoiler alert: We can.

How to Conquer a Scarcity Mindset

If you feel all the feels that I just mentioned (unworthy, selfish, nervous, uncertain), know that you can conquer these and move forward with a mindset of abundance.

Surround yourself with other goal-getters and watch your mindset slowly begin to change.

The world is big, and your people are out there.

If you're looking for some people, here are some of my favorite bosses who make investing in themselves look easy!

Shannah Compton Game, founder of the Millennial Money Podcast
Ash Ambridge, author of The Middle Finger Project
Rachel Hollis, author of multiple best-selling books and founder of the multimedia company called RISE.

Where to Start - Beyond the Dollars

When we talk about investing in ourselves, there's more to it than money!

If you are low on dollars to dole out right now, you can still invest in yourself.

I'm talking time, attention, and energy.

Investing time in finding your people, brainstorming your life goals, developing a plan, and researching how to get there are ALL great ways to start without putting a penny up.

Send a message to someone on LinkedIn who has your dream job and ask if you can do an informational interview with them. Make a connection, and pick the brain of someone who once started at the beginning too.

Make a list of all the possible things you want to do in life - yes, even the one that seems too big or too silly to admit to even your notebook.

Watch a Ted Talk about someone who started where you are now, or can offer perspective on a challenge in your life.

Listen to a podcast about the area you want to explore next.

Time is money, and happiness is currency too.

What Investing is Not

Investing in yourself does not mean getting an expensive college degree in something you hate because you feel like it's a safe choice or steady job or "safe" industry.

If the Covid-19 outbreak and resulting lockdowns taught us anything, it's that very few jobs are recession-proof and spending 40+ hours a week doing something that does not fulfill you, will likely drain you instead.

Investing in yourself is taking that leap to put money into your new business venture for the first time. It's pitching your book idea to a publisher. It's taking an online masterclass to develop a skill you've always wanted. It's no longer working outside of work hours and spending your time currency on building sustainable healthy habits. It's reading a book about coding and giving it a try.

You will always be with you.

Build yourself up and create opportunities for continued growth, exploration, and development.

How to Maintain a Me Mindset

Your life is probably in constant state of change (If it's not, tell me your ways!).

Even if these changes are slow and unnoticeable at first, they're happening. Your priorities may change too - with new family members (hello, babies), a change in the health of a close friend, a promotion, or a mid-life crisis mentality that creeps in out of seemingly nowhere.

One thing that we want to maintain, is the mindset that we, ourselves, are worth investing in.

You deserve your time, attention, and active interest.

So put pen to paper and give yourself a real vision of where you might like your life to go - even if it's just away from wherever you are now.

Small steps are steps, now lace up.

Yours in investing,

Emily Rose // Miss Magnolia

Grab the Guided Journal

If you are looking for more brain-bending questions and inspirational anecdotes, get yourself a copy of Write it to Right it: The Guided Journal for Serious People with Scattered Brainthoughts.

You can also download a sneak peak of chapter 3 by entering your email in the footer below. Happy journaling!

Imposter Syndrome: What it is and How to Beat it - Are you suffering from feeling like you're not good enough, don't know enough, or are somehow a fraud? Your expertise and experience is so valuable. Now let's get your brain back on track to align your self talk with your unmatched abilities.
The View from Outside Your Comfort Zone - As a kid, there were likely people pushing you to try new things. As an adult, it's your job to step outside your comfort zone to find things you might love!

What is Self Acceptance and How Do I Get it? - To experience self acceptance, we must first know ourselves. Take one small step forward through vulnerability, and start your journey now.

Goal Setting and Goal ...October 5, 2020how to invest in yourself, investing, investing in yourselfComment