Are You Investing In Yourself?

Investing in stocks or real estate for some reason seems to be something a lot easier for people to do. When it comes to tangible items. Are human brain is inclined towards using the needed resources to acquire tangible items. In some sense making a profit out of these items that can be a way of investing in you to get financial stability.

Even though my degree is in accounting and I worked in public accounting firms my main focus in this post is to get you to thinking of the importance of investing in yourself to become a better person, professional, business owner, or even better yet own your life and actions.

Those Who Rather Not Invest In Themselves

Too often I bump into people not willing to invest or help themselves. For some reason they feel others should solve their problems. They strategically seek everyone’s advice on occasions I think some people make it a part time job to brain pick those that have something valuable they can use. The irony in this is that in many occasions the knowledge they seek to gain has cost those who have earned that knowledge time, money, sweat, and even on occasions a little bit of pain.

Investing Time

We all gain knowledge by learning to do something by learning from others, by spending time studying theory in an educational facility, by doing on the job training, and by in general being there to understand a profession or business. Time is the most valuable resource we have because once we use it we can’t replenish it. This resource if used properly can lead a path of gaining any other of the much-needed resources.

Look back in your day and see what things you are doing that are taking time away from the things that can make you successful. Maybe you are not tech savvy and you are playing around with building a website when possible customers don’t know how to reach you and are possibly going toward your competitor.

In setting up many of my projects I have had to invest lots of time towards getting them running without knowing if it will have a positive outcome. The best way I can increase the possibility of having a positive outcome is making sure I am using my time in the best way possible in those critical areas that make my business run.

Investing Money

Everyone has time it is just a matter of prioritizing and working along the time you have to get to those important tasks that will eventually make you successful. On the other side money is a resource we all have to look for. To make money you have to invest money (and other resources). This is one of the hardest concepts for those that are trying to set up their own businesses or even getting a better opportunity at another place.

When we created resumes and we had a Puerto Rico job board running, I would say 95% of the resumes that where submitted could have been heavily enhanced increasing the probability of those jobseekers to find a job. Another 75% where crappy resumes and they clearly need to create a new resume. The problem was that these jobseekers did not understand that sending a bad resume would work against them. At one point we where offering resume creation starting at $69 dollars. Many individuals would rather spend months unemployed than actually investing some money into increasing the probability of getting employed. Even at lower paying jobs like $8/hr if they made the math every week that went by was costing them $320 but they where not willing to invest $69 dollars to start making income.

Along the way I have gotten better as a small business owner of hiring individuals, which I know my team and I have weaknesses in.

If we need creative work done we hire a Digital Artist, advanced coding in applications we hire a specialized developer, if we create content in Spanish we hire someone good at grammar and communications to go over the content, and if we find any weaknesses we look into investing money in strengthening ourselves to server our clients better.  If I don’t have the money then I use my strengths to make sure we get the income to make those things happen and grow our business.

Effort and maybe some Sweat

The same thing happens with many new small business owners they want to do everything and would rather not pay even for things that they have no understanding of.  When I started my business I hired some help and worked in identifying opportunities. I did do a lot of the legwork. I put many hours like many other of my successful friends have done. Overall I got very little sleep but got a lot done. Just as when you want to be healthy and lean as a person to keep your business running lean you have to exercise yourself to the point where you are always trimming down the fat.

Most of the knowledge I have gained has involved an effort that has made me sweat it out either via stress or trying to save money on the electric bill by keeping the A/C off so I could allocate the cash saved on the electricity bill to something that will strengthen my business.

Some Pain and Discomfort might be Experienced

Along the way of my 3+ years of running my own business I have suffered a few major setbacks and sometimes it seems like a roller coaster from loosing my home to making major shifts in my lifestyle their have been a lot of painful moments while being a business owner. Similar to when you are preparing for a marathon or trying to get your body in shape there is Pain involved Gaining the muscle and level of fitness needed to finish a marathon. Those situations where I have suffered some type of pain have made me focus and commit even more on what it is that I am trying to accomplish long term.

After the pain when you reach a milestone and gain something knowledge, a client, big project, an award, or any of your major goals you will easily forget about the pain. Sometimes growing pains will bring you discomfort but they will make you stronger.

Why should I Invest in you?

I love helping people out and this can be a very complicated thing when your business is still struggling to bring in the income you need to keep it running and sustain your family. Every week I get multiple requests from someone who wants to listen to my feedback or advice on how to run a business. Sadly on a few occasions I see how many of these individuals are just trying to pick my brain and their only interest in engaging me is for selfish reasons. Once they get what they need the move on to their next goal and forget that building a healthy community is critical for maintaining a business.

I have become better at saying “no” although I wish I had more hours in the day and that my business was bringing enough income to the point where I could help a few others who are great people and clearly need the help.

I know there are many like me that run into these scenarios where people feel that since I give free advice on via my blogs and especially my corporate blog I should continue to do so all the time forgetting like them I have bills to pay.

So I ask you if time is so valuable for you why should I spend time on your goals when you are not willing to invest in yourself.

If you need help feel free to ask any questions in the comments are or if it is more complicated maybe we can set up a consulting session as long as I can point you into the right direction I will be more than willing to invest in you.

If you are bit more serious to and want to take your business or your future to the next level feel free to contact me directly I be more than happy to get hired as an advisor in helping you reach your goals.

Are you investing in yourself?