Why I insist on investing in yourself

The Leadership Lab recently kicked off with a quick look at the three important categories of investments that make our confidence unshakeable as women.

I learned too late the cost of not paying attention to all three, and I want the young women participating in the programme to start early on building solid foundations that they can rely on when things don’t go as planned.

We get so pressured by society to invest in the things that ultimately only serve to keep up appearances: things that might add to our status or position, but in reality bring you very little value.

Meanwhile, there are people who are playing the long game: quietly investing in making themselves and their lives better. 

Let me tell you straight away: the future belongs to these people.

Why? Because in our age of distraction and being pulled in all possible directions, they are moving slowly but surely towards the life they want to create for themselves. 

But there’s more to it. 

When you put your time, energy, money, focus and attention on your own growth or in the things that take you closer to your destination, three things automatically happen:

• You value increases in the outside world: The same way that maintaining your home, car or tech devices will fetch you more money when selling them, than if you did nothing to look after those things.

• Your value increases within yourself: Nothing sparks inner confidence than choosing yourself. This is particularly important for us as women because for most of our lives, putting others first was our currency. When you have skin in the game is like telling yourself and the world that you matter, and that you mean business.

• You start making the big leaps: When you stop doing everything yourself and invest in external support to achieve your goals, that’s when the big change happens. As Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.” Want a different result? Stop taking the same actions and keep making the same mistakes.

Here’s a quick exercise you can do to determine where you are making investments.

Look at both your bank statement and your calendar and evaluate every expense of time, energy and money.

Did most of it go on things that keep you safe (your everyday needs and things that fill you up like time with your loved ones), things that secure your status (holidays, entertainment, clothes or the latest tv shows that everyone is talking about), or things that expand you (learning, professional support like coaching or accounting, services that free up your time like a gardener or a taxi ride home)?

Obviously I cannot tell you how you should allocate your most precious resources, but I invite you to do an audit on yourself and see whether you might need to make adjustments to the investments you are making right now.

Then leave a comment and let me know what you learned from doing this exercise!