The Importance of Investing in Yourself and Why It's the Best Investment Decision

Everyone talks about investing and getting rich quick. You can invest in stocks, real estate, or any other type of investment opportunity. However, one investment that tends to get overlooked is investing in yourself. Investing in yourself is one of the best returns on investments you can have. By investing in yourself, I don't mean going on a shopping spree because it makes you feel good or go out drinking with your friends to take all your stresses away. What I mean by investing in yourself is something that can advance your skillsets, such as learning new skills, knowledge, experience, network, and overall value. An investment in yourself today will pay massive payout in the future. It can dramatically change your career path or life in general.

Moreover, investing in yourself is that it's never too late to learn new skills that can improve yourself. The best part of investing in yourself is that no one can take it from you. Unlike money in your bank account, you can't lose your skills once you have it. In this article, I am going to explain the importance of investing in yourself and why it's the best investment decision.

Is Investing in Yourself Worth It?

You are probably wondering if investing in yourself is profitable or not. Investing in yourself is crucial if you want to be successful in life. By learning new skills, you will have new knowledge to do certain things that might benefit your career or life in general. It can be learning to invest in the stock market, learning how to create a blog or online shop, learning how to use programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Video Editing program, and many more. These skills can be beneficial if you want to become successful in life.

For instance, let's say you want to be a real estate agent, and you decided to invest your time and money to become one. However, even if you fail at becoming a real estate agent, you still learn some extremely valuable information that can make you a better investor or saves you from making a terrible real estate purchase. It may not pay off now, but it can be beneficial to you in the long run.

I think that investing in myself is worth it. It has helped me to have valuable skills that I can use in my personal life and career. For example, one ability that most of you readers know by reading this blog is that I have expertise in analyzing and investing in the stock market. This skill has helped me make a significant investment return to my dividend growth portfolio that I can one day use for my rainy day fund or early retirement.

You don't necessarily have to learn this by going to college or University and majoring in finance to be able to invest in the stock market. Truthfully, I only learn very little when attending my studies at the University for my Finance Degree. It's because I have the desire for knowledge in understanding the stock market that make me able to have this skill.

Most of my knowledge and skills in investing is because I spent long hours reading books or articles about investing in the stock market. The best part about learning this skill is that it doesn't cost much to learn it. All I have to do is invest my time and dedication to learning about it. You just need to be eager to want to learn.

Moreover, learning new skills is easily accessible and low cost to acquire. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars, like going to University to learn new skills. In today's time, you can acquire new skills just by searching it up on the Internet. There are tons of sources on the Internet where you can learn new skills at the cost of almost nothing.

I love watching tutorial videos on YouTube that can help me do certain things. The reason why I like learning new skills on YouTube is that it's free of charge. However, if you want to gain deeper about specific skills, you can use a website such as Udemy. This website has tons of courses you can sign up for the skill you want to acquire for very little money. It can be learning about investing, video editing/creation, digital marketing, 3d animation, photography, and many more. I believe it's more worth it to learn specific skills from these online courses than going to college or University.

Your Knowledge and Skills Remain in You Regardless of the Economy.

Investing in yourself, acquiring knowledge or skills is the most important investment you can make for your financial future. Unlike money in your bank account, that money can be lost. At the fast pace of the digital age, investing in yourself is crucial to keep yourself at the same pace. The skills and knowledge you acquire can't be taken from you. If you have a skill in a certain thing, it doesn't matter if the economy is terrible. You will always have that skill and knowledge that you acquire.

Because I have the knowledge and skills about the stock market, I take advantage of market turmoil to pick the right stock companies at a discount. Learning about investing in the stock market has helped me understand what to do when the market is volatile or in trouble. For instance, rather than panicking and quickly sell my stocks positions when it's going down. I use this moment as an opportunity to purchase great stock companies that I will hold long term.

I believe my dad was able to be successful regardless of how the economy is doing because he has many skills and knowledge that he acquires. He didn't learn these skills in school, but his willingness and dedication to learn certain valuable skills have helped him become the businessman he is today.

He is always eager and dedicated to keeping learning for new talents and knowledge even to this day. Smart wealth builders invest in diversifying their skills and knowledge so that when one opportunity is gone, they can easily apply their skills and knowledge into another profitable business.

Better Career and Employment Opportunities.

If you want to work for a company, your minimum payment is determined by the level and relevance of your knowledge and skills. The more updated and relevant your knowledge and skills are the higher your earning potentials. Big companies don't only see your grades while you are in college. They also want to know the experience, knowledge, and skills you have to work for them. Also, the more diversified your qualifications are, the more value you bring to your employer. This because you can do certain things that someone might not able to do. Even if you lose your current job, your knowledge, experience, and skills remain in you. Because you have vast knowledge and skills, it's much easier to apply for a different job.

Moreover, you will also be more satisfied with your career. By expanding your knowledge base through formal or casual learning opportunities, you are opening yourself to new career paths that might be a better fit. I suggest starting with something that you are curious about during your free time, and you might discover something you love. This can become an opportunity for you to be skilled in something new in your career field.

For instance, you might be curious about how you can be a successful YouTuber. You can start learning new skills and knowledge to become one as a side gig without leaving your primary job. However, your side gig can one day eventually become something you are satisfied with doing as a career. If it generates the same amount to working with others, you can become a full-time YouTuber as a career path.

Even if you don't make it as a YouTuber, you will still have some skills and knowledge to produce quality videos and content. With this new skill you acquire, you can put it in your resume if you are looking for a better job opportunity. You never know, your current boss might one day require someone with video editing skills to market the company. If you had the skill, you might be chosen to be responsible for doing that project. You might get larger pay just because you have a skill that is valuable to the company. Also, you will feel great and confident about yourself for being able to work on something that interests you.

I'm currently working in my dad's company as my main job. I'm lucky and fortunate to be his son because I can learn whatever role and responsibility his workers have. I just need to be more dedicated to learning more about the business. From my experience, working for him has let me understand the knowledge and skills that can't be taught in school.

Furthermore, I have invested in myself to gain more skills and knowledge. For instance, since my dad's company has a business transaction with people from China. I decided to learn the mandarin language to improve myself by applying to courses and tuitions. Even when I don't speak fluently, I still know the basics of being a valuable asset in my dad's business. In fact, I'm able to associate with Chinese speaking business people with my knowledge and skill of speaking some basic Chinese Mandarin.

This can be an opportunity for me if there is one since I'm able to communicate with them. I am planning to further my speaking ability in Chinese Mandarin by attending more advanced Chinese tuition classes.  

Learning Benefits Your Health.

Investing in yourself doesn't benefit you intellectually and career-wise; it also helps you have a healthier lifestyle. Studies from Neuroscience prove how valuable learning is in keeping our neural pathways active, reducing stress levels, and potentially delaying the onset of Alzheimers! So whether you are learning a new language, learning to invest or computer programing, research suggests that keeping an active brain is as important as keeping an active body. You want to train your brain to work so that it can keep performing for longer.

I think this the reason why I think Warren Buffett is still alive and healthy even though he reached very old age. He was born on August 30th, 1930, which makes him 90 years old this year as this article is written in 2020. Even though his age is very old, he is always reading and learning more. He was interviewed that ask him how to get smarter, and he replied, "Read 500 pages like this every week. That's how knowledge builds up, like compound interest." He is also active at his company (Berkshire Hathaway), being able to be wise and excellent in making investment decisions till today.

I believe there is a correlation between putting your brain to work with your overall health. I think by keeping your mind active with new skills and knowledge, it will affect your overall health. This is the reason why I want to do the same. I want to be active in learning new skills and gaining new knowledge so that I will get smarter and keep my brain and mind healthy and sharp.  

Learning Improves Self-Confidence.

Yes. By investing in yourself with new skills and new knowledge can improve your self-confidence. Because you have a new skill under your belt, you will be able to take on new tasks. This results in making you look proactive, which is something your boss is looking for.

Having a new skill gives you the ability to communicate on a certain topic about a subject that you didn't know about before. For instance, let's say you met someone at a dinner party who owns an online business. If you are currently working in gaining skills and knowledge in the same particular field, you are able to share ideas and able to communicate without a problem.

You will feel better adjusted in social situations. However, imagine yourself not having the skill or knowledge about owning an online business. You probably will have a tougher time exchanging ideas and communicate since you don't have the experience in that field.

I thoroughly believe this because as I invest more in myself by learning new skills and gaining knowledge, I was able to associate myself with people who have the same knowledge like me. For example, my brother implements an accounting software system in my dad's company. When I came back from the United States, I went to sign up for a class to learn to use the system.

With this knowledge and skill, I was able to communicate with friends who also have implemented this type of software in their parents' company. We were able to exchange ideas on how to improve efficiency in our company by using this type of accounting software. If I had not learned how to use this accounting system, I would have trouble communicating about this topic since I have no clue or idea what the system is like.  

Your Knowledge Will Stay Relevant in the Current Situation.

Continuing to invest in yourself by gaining knowledge and skill can help you keep up with today's fast-changing world. Our world is always moving ahead, and technology is continuously improving. If you don't keep up with the current situation, you might fall behind as innovation changes ways of working. You want to keep updated with advances and changes in new technology. This way, you understand what's going on in today's world.

For instance, I used to remember how we purchase things back in the days. We usually will go to the local store to purchase something you are looking for. However, with technology such as the Internet, the way people shop is different from how it was in the past. People now purchase things through their mobile phone or computer. Not only can it be cheaper to purchase items online, but it's also more convenient.

Without becoming a dedicated learner, you might fall behind in trend and having you to do things that might not be efficient. For instance, I'm pretty amazed how my dad, despite his old, is keen to always figuring out about his smartphone. He even knows what new apps are out there for his mobile device.

It's pretty amazing how updated my dad is on his mobile phone. The funny thing is that my mom, who is about nine years younger than him, is more outdated than my dad. I know this because she has trouble even open up her personal banking account without my help. Because my dad is always curious about learning something new, he is always updated with the current world situation.

Bottom Line.

In a fast-changing world, it's crucial to invest in ourselves. Learning new skills and knowledge will not only adapt you to the new world culture, but it also improves your overall quality of life. By expanding your knowledge and skills, you can have a better career path or job opportunities available to you.

Investing in ourselves doesn't require a huge sum of money, but the willingness and dedication to actually learn something new. The best part of investing in yourself is that your knowledge and skills can't be taken away from you. It has the highest return on investment that doesn't require much capital to gain knowledge and skills. Once it's in you, you can do something new that can create value for yourself or others.

Furthermore, investing in ourselves helps us to stay sharp, healthy, and confident. You will also feel more content about the things you can do that can create value. I hope after reading this article, you readers will be motivated to keep investing in yourself. As Warren Buffett said, knowledge works like compound interest, and you will feel the benefit of having new skills and knowledge that might be useful for you in the future. So don't stop investing in yourself from learning new skills and gaining new knowledge.