BYTAGR Self Investment
Invest in yourself is a term widely used in the entrepreneur community. Still, in others like health and fitness, education, and even the religious community it is practiced and probably should be applied to life in general. Investing in yourself can vary on a lot of different levels and can render different results depending on the time and dedication you put into your investment. Being truly devoted to seeing the spoils of your labor is usually the expected endgame but the excitement and early enthusiasm of creating or starting something new will certainly fade over time. Recognizing and understanding what short and long-term goals are is important before beginning to invest your time and money in something that you may lose interest in a few months or so.
I personally feel that the need for instant gratification is a part of human nature and it’s ok to want to be rewarded or praised after an achievement but to expect immediate results or even accolades from others is another thing and can be very dangerous and lead you down a long path of disappointment. For this, setting short-term goals are great and is perfect for building self-confidence and practicing patients for longer-term goals. Usually, the longer it takes to complete an accomplishment the greater the reward will be. Let’s take college for an example, It generally takes a person 4 years to graduate with some sort of degree. Not only does this take preparation and dedication but most importantly patients! In order to achieve something that requires a significant amount of your time you must understand the concept of sacrifice and reward.
It seems to be some misconception that starting a business will somehow lead you to a place of financial freedom and for some this is true. Some people become successful early on and others may take 10,15, or 20 years but starting up with only financial gain as your main objective can be discouraging when no immediate ROI is coming in. That’s one of the top reasons most businesses fail in the first year.
We can use a similar scenario for dropping out of school. Excluding the obvious financial reasons people drop out of college, the feeling of ” This is just not worth the time and money I’m investing here” is probably close to the top of that list. Attending college isn’t cheap, even with loans and grants, so going for 4 years and graduating in a major that you are not guaranteed to land a job that will start to immediately reimburse you for your college expenses can seem like a risky investment. It’s the same for a business. the likeliness of your seeing a quick return on things like your logo design, website development, business cards, or any other start-up cost that will inquire is very little to none at all.
The invest in yourself rule should apply to virtually anything that you want to grow, get good at, and eventually master. It’s going to take time! The phrase practice makes perfect is a very true statement and consistently practicing your craft or niche is certainly a great investment. Let’s use something a little more practical like a daily workout routine. Like school, this is also a situation where people tend to struggle to stay motivated because of the long-term results. For most people, it takes years of consistent dieting and routine exercise to get and keep a healthy body and physically fit shape which takes a certain level of discipline, in this situation we can use the word sacrifice.
TV & movies like to paint pictures of these what seems like an unobtainable lifestyle equipt with the beach body, luxuries, and social status but don’t really show how it all came to be. People tend to subconsciously compare our struggles or sacrifices with others that may be facing obstacles to achieving their goals. For instants, I’ve heard someone say they can’t get to work on time because they have problems at home and can’t purchase a vehicle, but they never consciously considered their co-workers with vehicles also with problems having to make it to work on time.
We all have roadblocks and hurdles we will have to jump throughout our lives just different for all of us. Seeds take time to grow and your sacrifices are the time and dedication you spend on making sure your dream flourishes. Whether it’s something that may make you uncomfortable like quitting a job, not socializing with old crowds, stopping smoking, or just changing your diet, the journey for self-improvement has to start with that initial investment. Making sacrifices are unavoidable but necessary to see any real growth or to reap any real rewards.
