The choice to invest in yourself with time or money will pay off throughout your lifetime. This is your life and it’s up to you to make sure you’re living the life you want. Here are 15 ways to invest in yourself because you are worth it.
- Adventures
- Learning
- Physical health
- Mental health
- Relationships
- Outsourcing
- Things that make your life better
- Causes
- Time off
- Being uncomfortable
- Safety net
- Assets
- Reflection
- Confidence
- “No”
Adventures
Spend money and time on the experiences that bring you joy. Take the weekend trip to Phoenix with your friends or the vacation to Cabo where you sip margaritas on the beach with a view of the bright blue Pacific.
Invest in your adventures and chase the experiences that make you feel alive.
Learning
Investing time and/or money into learning is one of the best ways to invest in yourself. There are unlimited ways you can learn, and with the internet, many of them are free.
You can watch YouTube videos, follow experts on social media, take free courses, read books, listen to podcasts, etc.
Take opportunities to learn new soft or hard skills. Especially if you develop skills employers value, this can help you get a raise or a new job.
If you take opportunities to keep learning, this is one investment that will continue to pay off over your lifetime.
If you’re looking for a place to get started, Harvard has some free online courses on a variety of subjects.
Physical health
There’s a reason this site is called Health Self and Wealth. Wealth here extends beyond any number in a bank account. It’s all centered around money providing the means for you to live your best life.
Part of that best life is your physical health. We only get one body, so taking the time to take care of it is always a worthy investment.
Our bodies only ask us to do 3 main things: eat the right nutrients, get enough rest, and drink water.
We show ourselves love when we take time to exercise for our health.
Anything that is an investment into your physical health is one that should be prioritized. Invest in yourself, literally.
Mental health
Along with your physical health, invest in your mental health too. This will look different for everyone.
It could involve therapy, meditation, journaling, etc. It may also look like leaving things, such as relationships or jobs, that aren’t right for you.
You are your own best advocate.
Relationships
Invest time into the people in your life that matter most to you. There have been studies on factors that influence happiness most over time. The studies found that the number one predictor of happiness was relationships.
Strong, healthy relationships can bring you such happiness throughout your life. Negative, toxic relationships can destroy your peace.
Be intentional about who you invest your time in. Ask yourself how you feel after a conversation with them ends. If you are happy, that’s a sign it may be a good relationship. If you feel relieved the conversation is over, that may indicate it’s not the best relationship for you.
The people in your life will have a big influence over your happiness, so it is worthwhile to invest in them.
Outsourcing
One of the best things money can buy is your time. If you want more time to spend with your loved ones or pursue a hobby, you buy that time by outsourcing tasks.
For example, let’s say you typically do the cooking and it takes you about 5 hours a week.
You could hire a chef or a meal preparation service to make food for you instead. Now you bought 5 hours of your time back that you can spend in a way that’s more fulfilling.
Outsource the tasks that don’t bring you joy so you can spend your time differently.
Things that make your life better
Similar to outsourcing, invest in yourself with things that make your life better. This could be things for convenience, ease, efficiency, etc.
For example, I hate vacuuming because it irritates my allergies. Accordingly, an investment into a robot vacuum was a great idea.
What would make your life better?
Causes
Invest in the causes that you believe would make the world a better place. Whether it’s a donation to find a cure for a disease or time cleaning up trash from a creek, invest the time or money to support the causes you believe in.
Time off
Another way to invest in yourself is to take your vacation days!! Use them to do things that re-energize you and make you feel alive.
Give yourself time to be who you are, free from work in those moments.
Being uncomfortable
One factor I use to make decisions is how uncomfortable each decision will make me. Sometimes the comfortable option is the easy option, and not the one I need to grow.
Instead, I like to pursue the path that is the most uncomfortable for me. That’s a way for me to escape my comfort zone and grow.
Now, not every decision needs to be one that pushes you to grow. However, choosing the uncomfortable path sometimes can help you reach new heights.
Safety net
Always, always, always invest in a safety net. You can plan all you want. However, the only thing you can be certain of is something probably won’t go according to your plan.
A safety net ensures you can protect yourself when the unexpected happens.
In this case, that safety net is an emergency fund. It’s a savings account that can typically cover at least 3 months of your expenses.
If you lose your job or are unable to work, then you have this safety net to still pay for rent, food, and your necessities.
Having an emergency fund gives you peace of mind, like a safety net under a tight rope.
Assets
Another way to invest in yourself is to buy assets that will grow your money. While money doesn’t grow on trees, it can in investments.
There are many assets you could invest in including the stock market, real estate, business, and more.
If stock market investing interests you, check out this complete beginners investing guide here.
If you are interested in starting your own online business, here are 7 ways to make money with it.
Reflection
Invest the time to reflect. My worst fear is waking up one day and wondering how my life ended up the way it is. Like I had been a zombie, awake but not really living.
To ensure I’m always being intentional with how I am living my life, I answer 3 prompts every day.
- What was the best part of my day?
- The worst part?
- What is one thing I learned?
Then every month I read my answers and consider how I can do more of the things that made me happy and less of the things that made me miserable.
Time can pass so quickly. I’ve found that without a system that helps me think critically about my life, I stay in situations that are making me unhappy for too long.
This is my life, and it’s on me to make sure I’m living it the way I want to.
Confidence
Building your confidence is the best way you can invest in yourself. Confidence has played more of a role in my successes than my skills. Let me explain.
Six years ago, I’d tell people my realistic goals and most would respond with skepticism and doubt. Now I tell people ambitious, half-baked dreams with such conviction I’m going to do it, no one doubts me.
Having this newfound confidence has helped me believe in myself, so much so that others can’t help but believe in me too. What really matters though is that I have confidence in myself.
This has given me the courage to put myself out there. To take risks. To unapologetically pursue the life I want.
If I had to point to one thing that has helped me get to where I am today, it would be confidence. I am here because I believed I could be and refused to give up until I figured out how to turn my dreams into reality.
It’s worthwhile to invest your time/money into anything that will boost your confidence.
“No”
We discussed lots of ways to invest in yourself. One of the best ways to do that is by getting comfortable saying no.
Every time we say yes to something, we also say no to something else. For example, if you agree to go out with friends after work, then you won’t be able to go to the gym after work.
Every time you say yes to something, you give up the chance to say yes to something else.
This is your life, so be confident saying no to the things you don’t want to do.
You must be your own advocate first and foremost.
Conclusion
There are unlimited ways to invest in yourself, and perhaps this list inspired other ideas as well. The only person you are guaranteed to have in your entire life is you. It’s worthwhile to invest your time and money being and becoming the person you want to be.
This is your life, and you don’t need anyone’s permission to live it the way you want to.
How will you invest in yourself today?
