The difference between people who invest in themselves…and people who just whine…
I recently wrote a blog post on the Difference between Winners and losers. You can check it out here.
When was the last time you bought an online course to help you learn a new skill? Have you bought a new book and applied the results to your work? What about traveling to visit someone to learn something?
We all have things we say we want to do — travel more, save more money, earn more. Ok, so in the last 14 days, have you invested to help get to those goals?
How come so many people “say” they want to make more money, or start going to the gym, or learn a new language…but never actually DO ANYTHING to get there?
Investing doesn’t always mean buying courses. It’s not just buying products. You can literally invest in other people’s expertise: Call them consultants, teachers, or tutors. When was the last time you paid someone to teach you something? When you buy a book to help you get better, you are investing in your own success.
Here’s a simple litmus test:
If you say you want something but haven’t done systematic work to achieve your goal in the last 30 days, you might actually call it daydreaming.
So your choice is either (1) start taking action or (2) acknowledge that your goal really isn’t that important, and give up.
(By the way, there’s nothing wrong with giving up on certain goals. For example, I used to respond to every email within 24 hours — that was my goal. After a while, I was unable to do it, no matter how hard I tried. And I’ve now officially given up on it. If someone emails me, I’ll get back to them when I am able to. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders.)
I want to see you take even baby steps towards your goals that’s the reason I work hard to give you what would help.
Top performers invest in themselves
You’ll find that the very highest-achieving people are also habitual consumers of personal-development materials, whether books, courses, or personal tutors/consultants.
I have spent lots of money on self-development. In fact, in the last 12 months, I’ve spent a lot on tools, courses, books, online conferences, and even taking people out to dinner to learn from them.
But you don’t have to spend so much to invest in yourself. Back in the days my budget was a LOT smaller, I still emailed people to take them out to lunch.
Most of my top-performing friends also invest in themselves with books, courses, and traveling to attend events where they can meet interesting people.
“But I can find all the information I need online, for free!”
Yeah, you “could.” But the fact is that we dont!
Information is not all you need for success, in fact information is not enough. Changing a habit is far more important than getting information. It’s about motivation and skill and many other factors.
When you pay for a course, or a tutor, or a coach, you’re not just paying for commodity information. You’re paying for the coach’s skills and expertise. When I hire a web designer, for example, ALL HE READS IS WEB DESIGN STUFF. He is far deeper in the web-design world than I will ever be.
You’re also psychologically committing yourself to value the goal more. For example, my courses (free and paid) provides tips and comprehensive steps to help you earn more.
The Inward-Looking Test
The best predictor of your future behaviour is your past behaviour. People really don’t like hearing this because it makes them confront why they’re not achieving their so-called goals.
We all know there are things we could do if only we were motivated enough, or if we had more time. The smart person asks, “What am I realistically likely to do?”
Investing even HUGE amounts can pay off. There’s a reason why successful people don’t think twice when it comes to investing in themselves or their businesses. That’s because the cost of the right investment is NOTHING compared to the gains as a result.
I was recently doing some consulting for a guy that is looking to re-evaluate his skills to move up in his career. We had a brainstorming session on phone and his comment to me was:
“So, I hung up the phone Friday and my first thought was, ‘Wow, THAT was probably worth 5 grand.'”
Invest in yourself today:
What’s the best investment you could make today?
Who could you take out to lunch to pick their brain?
What conference could you attend that would improve your skills?
Can you hire a tutor for something you want to do?
Do you want to earn more money?