Invest in Yourself – Dave Glardon

Good morning! I hope your day is off to a nice start.

It’s a brand-new week. When people ask what we did over the weekend, we can usually rattle off a short litany of things we accomplished – important stuff, like shopping, cleaning, mowing the lawn – things we couldn’t do during the week because we were just too busy. Oh well, there’s always next weekend.

If somebody were to ask the same question Saturday morning about the week just passed, what would we say? Would you be able to tell them you accomplished a personal goal, one that brings you closer to the life you want? Or would you simply say, “I worked.”

Most of us go through life waiting for that perfect moment to put our own plans into motion, but we always find time for everything else. Oh, we may enjoy a weekend getaway every now and then, or maybe even a short vacation. Then it’s back to the grind. And the boss thinks that since we came back all happy and rejuvenated, we should work that much harder for the next month or two.

So, let me ask you a question. How many years have you been waiting for that perfect moment? You know, the time to pick up a new hobby, clean the garage, or build an income on the side? Has there ever been enough time? Will another year really change that?

Here’s the thing nobody told us when we were young – as we get older, time warps. We still get 168 hours in a week, but some of those hours blow by a lot faster than others. The 40 hours at work feel more like 60, we barely sit down and it’s bedtime, and no amount of sleep is enough. By Saturday, time kicks into overdrive and we’re so tired all we can do is watch it fly past.

This cycle continues until we do something to change it. Managing time is no different than managing your checking account. Every hour we spend doing anything reduces our available balance until it’s gone. But what if you were to invest some of that time instead of just spending it?

Investing time is no different than investing money. Some investments will pay off, and others won’t. So, we manage those investments and monitor results. How long would you watch your retirement account dwindle before making changes? A week? A month? A year? Yet we’ll do the same thing with our time, day after day, year after year, hoping for a better result.

Time is one of our most valuable resources. It’s like a retirement account – small investments, repeated every week, can make a huge difference if you invest that time in something that will generate a return. We spend 40+ hours a week generating a return for somebody else. Aren’t you worth at least a fraction of that time?

Take some time this week to consider how you can invest that same amount of time next week. An hour here, an hour there – it all adds up. Make your time work for you.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Good morning, and happy Friday! I hope your day is off to a nice start.

So, by show of hands, how many of you pay close attention to your investments? Like, really close. I do. Okay, I don’t even know what my investments are, because I give somebody else a bunch of money every two weeks and they play with it for me. Uncle Sam calls it a 401(k). The rest of us call it our only hope for retirement. Which explains all the old folks working in Walmart.

I’ve tried learning the economic signs that point to ups and downs, and I’m completely lost. Gas prices, unemployment, inflation, gross national product, who’s running first in the electoral polls … I can’t keep up. And none of it seems to matter, because just about the time you think you’ve got it figured out, Wall Street comes along and laughs in your face.

It reminds me of the movie “Trading Places,” where the Duke brothers are trying to explain their business as commodities brokers to Billy Ray. “Tell him the best part! Whether our investors win or lose, Duke & Duke gets their share!” Where can I get a job like that?

In “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” Robert Kiyosaki makes no secret of his disdain for the stock market. Sure, you can make money. And you can lose it, too. Most of us don’t have the financial insight to study the Wall Street Journal and figure out the market, so we hire people who have no life to do it for us. We bet our entire future on their ability to win. Smart, huh?

I’m not against the concept of a 401(k), mostly because it’s an easy way for me to put my paltry sum of money in a pool with a bunch of other people and pray we don’t all go broke. And, over the years, it’s been pretty good to me. But if I had to retire on what I’ve got saved today, I’d have to die next January. And I’m betting I’m not alone in that. Which explains all the old folks playing the lottery.

So, here’s my question. If we’re willing to invest our own money in somebody else’s success for just a cut of the profits, why not invest in ourselves? Take a class. Read a book. Start a business. Oh, and here’s the fun part – once you’ve started, follow through! Find something that works for you, and then keep doing it.

Success won’t come overnight. It never does. But if you believe in what you’re doing enough to get started, then believe in yourself enough to finish. Take control and make it happen. You can do this!

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day, and I’ll see you next week!

Tag: Invest in Yourself

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