Invest in Yourself

You have no doubt heard this refrain many times.“Invest in yourself! Invest in yourself! Invest is yourself!” But what does ‘invest in yourself mean’? Does it mean you should go out and invest in a haircut that costs two hundred bucks? Does it mean that you should go by yourself a designer suit? What does it mean to invest in yourself?

Well, if you can afford it, go get that haircut and buy that designer suit but that is not the kind of investment that we are talking about here. Your internet business is just you, your computer and your internet connection and you could actually operate your internet business from any commuter on the planet that had an internet connection.

So basically, your business is really only you. Your business is based only upon your own knowledge and your own ability. Those are the ‘company’ assets and those are the ones that need to grow and expand constantly so that your internet business thrives.

Here is a rule that you might want to live by to insure that your internet business is a success and continues to be a success: Invest 5% of your time and income into improving your self. Expansion and growth are imperative to survival and expansion and growth of an internet business means expanding and growing the knowledge of the person running the company…that would be YOU.

A tiny investment of only 5% of your time and your income per year in yourself can mean that you will continue to see positive monetary returns for many, many years to come.

You might be sitting there shaking your head and still wondering what is meant by a 5% time and income investment per year in yourself. What is meant is that you must expand your knowledge.

You must stay on top of new technological advancements and you must expand your knowledge base about your own area of expertise. Things change fast. New information becomes available on almost everything under the sun every day of the week. It is very, very easy to fall behind very, very quickly. And unless you consciously put forth the effort to stay on top of things you will most certainly fall behind. Keeping up is easier than catching up and if you keep up, you can usually find a way to forge ahead.

Yes, you are so busy right now that you could use 48 hour days but taking just about one hour per day out of the 24 that you are allotted and only $5 out of every hundred dollars that you earn and investing that time and money in yourself can increase your future earnings a hundred fold.

There are newsletters, webinars, teleseminars and real brick and mortar seminars that can provide information and cause your knowledge to grow and expand so that your business can also grow and expand but you must be willing to invest in yourself so that you can take advantage of this information…learn it…and apply it to your own internet business. 

Self-Investment Tips that Really Work

It is absolutely true that time is the one commodity that most internet entrepreneurs have a very, very short supply of. Still there are ways to use time that would otherwise be of no value to invest in yourself. Here are a few tips that might help:

• Use travel time to invest in yourself. By using your iPod or your MP3 player you can use your travel time to expand your knowledge.
• Set your clock for a half hour earlier and use that time to read and learn.
• After you stop working in the evening, use your computer to search for new information and ideas.

Of course there are some things that are just going to take your time but you can choose wisely.

• Attend webinars and teleseminars that are directly related to your niche or your business.
• Attend real world seminars that are closer to your home and will require less travel time but will provide you with the information that you need.

Resist the Urge of Staying in the Comfort Zone

We all have a comfort zone and all of us are very fond of our personal comfort zone. It is very, very tempting to just stick with doing the things that we have always done and doing them in the same way we have always done them. However, staying in your comfort zone and refusing to expand your mind and your horizons can cause you and your internet business to fail.

There is an old saying (probably made up by someone who was afraid of trying new things) that says, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, ‘it’ doesn’t have to be broken in order to be improved upon whatever ‘it’ is. Candle light wasn’t broken but we are all glad that electricity was harnessed. Electric light is still light but it is certainly a big improvement over candle light.

New ideas come along every day in the world of internet business. Some of those ideas are even good ones even if they do reside outside of our own personal comfort zone. In order to continue to invest in yourself, you must be willing to leave your own comfort zone. Just because what has worked is still working it doesn’t mean that there are not newer, better and more efficient ways of doing things.

Nobody is saying that new is always better. New is not always better but sometimes it is and the only way to tell which is which is by investigating new ideas yourself and then adapting the ones that can help you to your business.

Invest in yourself by increasing your knowledge and don’t be afraid of trying new things and new ways of doing things. These things really are the secrets of success and not just in the world of internet business but in life itself.

Coming up Next:

The Razor Edge Difference Between Work and Deals

• Develop Your Financial IQ: Chapter 3, The Most Important Rule in Investing
• The E-Entrepreneur Success Mindset Series, Part II
• Viral Marketing Series Part 7: Using Forums in Viral Marketing
• Cash Building Strategies Series: Marketing Your Online Business, Part B
• Cash Building Strategies Series: Ending Thoughts

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The Most Important Rule in Investing

What comes in to your mind when you mention the word investing? Does it mean, putting your money in insurance, mutual funds, the stock market or even high-yield investments? Other people might only think about investing when they are about to die and they haven’t left anything for their offspring. Some even shiver when they hear the word, often claiming that they have no money to invest or feel that is too complicated a subject to even discuss about. Many people even invest heavily in health supplements, personal trainers and beauticians to make themselves live longer, healthier or even look younger!Imagine the advertising budget for beauty companies nowadays.

All these are legitimate concerns when it comes to investing, but I am talking about the most important investment a person can make in his lifetime.

Invest in Yourself

Your parents will only invest in your education only until you leave college. But that is just the basic necessities provided and does not teach you important lessons about financial education.

Would you depend on colleges or universities to teach you how to make money? Most colleges only teach you skills so you can earn money working for other people. How about business school? Honestly, if business lecturers are such experts at business, why are they still lecturing there instead of making a fortune in business ventures?

You see, when you invest in yourself, it means taking on the importance of educating yourself. Education not in the academic or technical sense, though they are necessary skills to be developed in life. Our education doesn’t stop at college.

For most working adults, their education enters retardation stage after they leave college. They stop learning and therefore they stop growing. They only grow sideways from eating too much pizzas or take-out during their busy lunch breaks.

We know that IQ is important right? But why aren’t the most intelligent people in the world the richest people in the world? There are many accountants and financial planners rushing to their cars every evening trying to beat the after work traffic congestions! They are not rich!

How about EQ or Emotional quotient? Do working hard, having a great attitude and a positive mindset solve our financial situation? These are important when running a business, but let me illustrate:

If you are driving from Boston to New York using the wrong road map, you won’t get to our destination no matter how fast you drive your car (working hard)! You can work harder, but you would only get to the wrong destination faster! You may have the best attitude in the world or the most positive mindset, but you still won’t get to New York (although the journey wouldn’t bother you since you are feeling positive about it)

The Importance Of Financial Education

Having good financial IQ is not about saving tons of money or dumping them into mutual funds. It is developing a healthy relationship money and building a wealth of assets that will generate you money.

What does it take to develop your financial IQ? Delayed gratification is one of the most important aspects to developing your financial IQ. Take this as a hypothetical example.

Would you pay for a pint of milk or a cow? If you buy milk, it is consumed and it is over. You will have to buy milk over and over again when it is finished. Even if the milk costs less than a cow, in the long run, you will still be buying milk again and again.

Now, if a cow were to cost 50 times more than milk, you might pay through your nose when you purchase the cow, but after consuming 50 pints worth of milk from the cow, you would break even on your investment and save more money in the future. In fact, the cow might give birth to 2 or more calves and you could sell one of them for profit!

EVERYONE is capable of creating wealth. When you take a beat up old car and give it an overhaul, paint it with a new coat of paint, and change a few more parts to make it start running again, you could sell that car for more money than if it was just a beat up old car. You would have created wealth in the process!

How about a farm? If you turn a farm into a country home getaway resort, wouldn’t the value of the farm land increase manifold?

It is the same principle for chefs, computer programmers and craftsmen. The sum of the whole is greater than the parts. We are all capable of creating wealth even out of thin air and that is the first step to getting our creative juices flowing.

You don’t need to be a Major in economics to understand this. Money is just an idea. Remember the desert island example? The true measurement of money is not the cents or dollars it represents.

If you have developed a product that people want, would they pay more to you than usual? Would you apply your skills in creating good assets?

Invest in assets that bring long term value. Anything that brings you more income is an asset. Don’t invest too much in liabilities like cars or boats.

Even houses are not considered assets until they are fully paid off (If you lost your job tomorrow and you can’t pay for your house, is your house an asset or liability?)

Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone and pay the price for financial IQ or ignore the signs of the times and expect your boss, the government and the bank to take care of you financially for the rest of your life, living below your means and never taking risks to better your family’s future?   Coming uo Next: Chapter 4: How To Get Out Of A Financial Mess

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• Cash Building Strategies Series: Types of Legitimate Online Businesses, Part 2
• Develop Your Financial IQ: Chapter 2, Ways To Achieve Wealth
• Secrets Of The Rich Series: What are Riches?

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