Level Up // Time to Start Investing In Yourself

My mom loves working in her garden.  Every year, she always brings up how she needs to start planting seeds within a certain time frame in order to produce a decent harvest.  Recently, news came out that Rapper 50 Cent could be the beneficiary of hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to his savvy investing strategy.  50 was an early investor in a mattress company now worth a billion dollars.  Curtis Jackson (50's government name), has made a lifetime of investing.  He has a string of successful investments on his resume. He believes in allocating a portion of his money into opportunities that produce a solid return.

I, too, want to become great at investing.  Basically, I want to allocate money and time into endeavors that have a potential payoff.  Investing takes on many forms. Most of us think about investing as buying shares of companies.  Yes, this is a common type of investing, but I want us to expand the definition so the habit of investing can become a regular part of our lives. 
It's time to level up! One way to do so is by/http://www.bellemocha.com/2019/02/stop-setting-goals-start-raising-your.html.  Once we've set the bar a little higher, then it's time to invest in ourselves.

A couple of years ago, I watched a Snapchat story of a girl who had perfect skin.  Yes, the filter made her skin look better but I also saw videos of her skin sans filter and it still was just as amazing.  After closing the app, I made the decision once and for all to finally invest in my skin.  That afternoon, I contacted an esthetician and booked a series of micro needling sessions.   It was expensive, it was slightly painful....but at the end of the year, my skin looked completely different.

The investment in my skin produced a nice return.

Last week, I decided it was time to make another investment.  This year marks my 4th year as an entrepreneur.  I watch Shark's Tank and notice that business owners often visit the show to obtain the financial support and business knowledge of experienced investors.  I want to maintain full ownership of my brand while seeking the business knowledge of someone who can help me produce even greater results. How do I do this?  By investing in 1-on-1 coaching.  I'm committed to the process and optimistic that my investment will pay off.

What I love about investing is that you get back much more than you put in.   If I reach the financial results that my coach thinks is possible for my business, the money that I paid this coach is negligible.  Sometimes we only focus on the upfront costs associated with investing. This keeps us from experiencing the potential rewards that await us.

Most of us spend our time and money on things that give us an instant reward, but nothing long-term...and nothing scalable.  We need to start thinking bigger.  What are you doing currently that will pay off months or years from now?

If we aren't investing, we are cannibalizing our resources.  We consume everything that comes in which makes us totally dependent on receiving more.  I have friends who want to leave their jobs but feel trapped because of lack of financial resources.  When financial resources are scarce, we must heavily invest our time into executing tactics that will ultimately pay you back.

Take a look at some of the areas in your life that need your attention.  Should you be investing in:

• Improving your health/wellness 
• Growing your bank account so you have more financial resources to invest.
• Invest in improving your personal appearance.
• Invest in lifestyle improvement strategies (like hiring a maid, setting aside time to prep healthy meals, etc)
• Purchasing a course, program, or training that offers a skill set that you can monetize.

I want us to be constantly on the lookout for ways to allocate our resources for greater reward.  We have to think about working for our future self.  Start small.  A good place to start is by focusing on how you invest your time.  Incorporate high-value activities into your day that produce desirable results.  Let's create a standard that we're constantly investing and expand our lives.