When you invest in you, you invest in so much more than yourself. It’s a deposit into your soul, your marriage, your children, your own well being. So why is it so hard for us women to invest in ourselves? Why do we fill everyone else’s cup up first, before our own?
As someone who is child-free by choice, I don’t have the responsibility of tiny humans depending on me to keep them alive. So while I don’t know the direct stresses of motherhood, I do know the financial struggles of how investing in you when there is little to no income to do such a thing, is terrifying and risky.
No matter your family or financial situation, any time you invest in you, it’s scary. It’s scary because the buck literally stops with you. YOU are the return on that investment.
Will you or won’t you succeed when you invest in you?
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What It Means to Invest In You
I think investing in yourself means different things for different people. For some, it could me physically investing in your body by going to the gym or going for a run. For others, it could mean self care and taking time for you by reading a book, going for a walk, cooking or spending time with friends away from children or significant others.
If you are a business builder, like myself, it could mean spending money on or in your business because you know it will help grow your business. Sure you could do it on a shoestring budget. Sure you could literally do it all yourself and figure out how to be a web designer, tech support, accountant, social media manager, writer, editor and CEO. Or you could invest in you and your business, and get some help along the way, so you do still have time to spend with your kids and time to go for a run, while you also build a business.
All of these versions of investing in yourself mean the same thing. It’s filling up your tank. However you need your tank to be filled, that is investing in you.
Related: The Authenticity Is In The Why
Why You Should Invest In Yourself
When you invest in you, it helps you to achieve your goal faster and more efficiently — whatever the goal.
If you want to run a marathon, you would invest in training and gear.
If you want a career that requires a bachelor’s degree, you invest in college.
If you want to run a successful business but have never done it before, you invest in someone or something to help show you how.
It’s definitely scary to invest in any new business. But to invest in one that doesn’t even exist yet, one that you alone want to build, and one that you alone will be responsible for in the end?! That’s straight-up terrifying!
But taking that risk, is what pushes you forward faster. When you take the risk of investing in you, it is what allows the transformation to happen faster. It allows for the non-existent business to exist, faster.
I spent most of 2021 paying my bills with government assistance. I was receiving unemployment payments after being laid off in the pandemic and while I was able to meet all of my responsibilities without struggle. I did not have extra cash to invest in myself.
But that’s exactly what I did!
Related: Layoffs Lead to Impact and Income
Investing In Me
I started with free things of course. I enrolled in every free class, course or mastermind that crossed my path. Anything that pertained to “how to build a business” and was free, I signed up for it.
But I quickly realized that free actually meant sales pitch and the information I received in those courses, wasn’t giving me all the things I needed.
So I invested a little bit into myself. I spent a few hundred dollars here or there for better courses and classes, and I received a few hundred dollars worth of better tips, advice and how-to’s. It was all good advice, but I needed all the things, not just some of the things. But how could I possibly invest more than a few hundred dollar on myself when I didn’t have a job or real income?
What’s the Cost of Not Investing In You
The cost of NOT investing in you, is time. I figured out in January 2021 that I wanted to be a coach. That realization alone took me eight months or more to figure out. It took me EIGHT months to just know what I wanted my business to be and even then I only had a very vague idea. I certainly wasn’t using the word “coach” yet. If I had invested sooner, maybe I would have found the coaching industry faster. Maybe it wouldn’t have taken me eight months to semi-define my business.
Feeling stuck in your business?
From January to about April 2021, I struggled with how to be a coach. I spent four months crying over not being able to figure it out. Not knowing if or how I could do it. But at that point, I was running out of time faster than I was running out of money, so an investment was a must. My unemployment payments would run out at some point and time was not on my side. I knew I needed to invest in me and this time it needed to count!
I made the largest and scariest investment in myself and my business and it was the best thing I could have done for my life and my business. I found a coach for coaches, got certified in her method, learned how to coach, and became one! I finally had a business! The return on investment has been tenfold, and I’m not talking about the financial return. Investing in me, filled my tank. It reminded me who I am and gave me the direction I had been missing, direction I didn’t even know was missing at the time.
Related: How a Puzzle Led Me To Start a Coaching Business
Return On Investment
I’m not here to tell you that I invested in myself and with a snap of a finger I suddenly made a million dollars. I haven’t hit the $10K months that everyone talks about. I haven’t even hit $5K months yet, but I do know that investing in myself and in my business has gotten me farther along in my business in a shorter amount of time.
I had a clear business model and plan three months after investing in myself. I had confidence in myself and my business four months after investing in myself, and I had my first client four months after investing in myself. Ten months after that big investment, my path to success has never been more clear. And I don’t doubt that those $5K and $10K months are right around the corner.
Without that big investment, it’s very likely I would still be crying about what and how to do it.
How to Invest In You
Keep it simple. Don’t over complicate things for yourself. Life and business are complicated enough on their own. Think about what you need or the goal you want to achieve, research how to achieve it, and just jump — invest in you. Invest in what will help you achieve that goal.
Maybe that looks like taking a course or hiring a coach or mentor. Maybe that means starting a new hobby, blocking time on your schedule for a walk or a run, or just putting the kids to bed early so you can have a soak in the tub in silence.
Whatever it is, invest in it! Don’t let money stop you. Don’t like significant others or children stop you. Do.not.let YOU stop you. If you want it, and if you want it to happen faster and more efficiently, the investment is always worth the return.
Related: Just Jump: Advice to Live By
