We all need good investment instruments. According to Warren Buffett, one of the wealthiest men in the world, "..investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents or skills nobody can tax it or take it away from you.... if you’ve got talent yourself, and you’ve maximized your talent, you’ve got a tremendous asset that can return 10-fold".
I should also say investing in yourself is not only in terms of talents or skills (that will ultimately translate to financial returns), but one should also consider investing in one's physical wellness, mental health, and spiritual growth.
It would be best if you took care of your body, mind, and soul, for these are the assets that you are going to use to achieve your goals.
Speaking of goals, it is not just enough that you have goals in mind, but you should really put these in writing and define them in more specific terms.
There should be a list of daily activities to guide you in achieving the goals you have written. This is because breaking it down into a daily activity will make it more doable.
For instance, in your career, you want to specialize in providing sustainability advisory services to your clients. To achieve that, you have to undergo pieces of training and workshops, and discussion forums, plus work together with those who specialize in this kind of service to gain expertise. It would be best if you also had a good mentor and a network of individuals with whom you can learn from.
Then there are your personal goals of healthy body, sound mind, and soul. In plotting the activities towards achieving your goals, remember you cannot have it all, but you can maintain balance.
Investing in your physical health means having a daily exercise routine. If you go to the gym, you can make it for an hour every other day to rest your muscles. But if you walk every day, you can just do it in 30 minutes, making sure to increase your heart rate to help prevent dementia.
The good thing about exercise is it does not only tone the muscles and make your heart strong but it also boosts your mind power and your happy hormones. Walking under the sun will not only further boost these hormones but will also strengthen your immunity. You have to determine and be intentional about this because activities during the day can rob you of this time to exercise. And I am guilty of this because I haven’t been to the gym and seen my training coach for months already, although I tried my best to walk and do aerobics at home when I can snatch some time.
Your mind also needs some boosting up. We need to read books for according to Jim Ron “ reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary”. Books about self-development, biographies and autobiographies of successful people ( to learn from their successes and failures), professional development books and for me the best book of all the is the Bible.
I was in third year high school when I stopped reading fictions. I immersed myself on psychology books, bookkeeping, self-development books such as communication and people skills ( I started reading the Bible when I am already married). These are the books that can help us more and will give an ample return not only financially but in our growth as individuals or as a person. Even for just 15 minutes a day, that is between 20 and 26 books a year depending on book-length.
Attending trainings, workshops and conferences can also help boost your mind aside from professional development. And listening to online messages does not only boost knowledge and character but also saves a lot of time because you can use your time while driving or when you go for a walk listening to these online or cleaning your room.
And for me the most important is taking care of your soul for the inner man determines the outer man. Many successful people meditate - Oprah Winfrey, Beyonce, Lady Gaga Selena Gomez, etc. Some of them may have meditate with focus on the universe but as one Speaker says, we meditate on the Creator of the Universe Himself.
Journal writing is also important in the process of meditation or quiet time. I have been writing in my prayer journal for about 40 years and I had them all in bookbinds except for the recent years when I had them all in soft copies. It makes your thoughts clear and organized and in my experience I gain more wisdom which otherwise I could not gain had I not written it in my journal. When I read Bible, I write my prayers and my meditation on the insights I have gained from reading the verses and chapters for the day.
I am still a work in progress because I fail to do some of the stuff I mentioned above every now and then. But little by little with grit and determination even if you fail some days, those little habits will translate to a more successful person in you. And there is no better investment in the world than in the investment for a better you.
Wilma Miranda is a Managing Partner of Inventor, Miranda & Associates, CPAs, Chair of the Ethics Committee of FINEX and member of the Board of Directors of KPS Outsourcing, Inc. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of these institutions.)