How much time do you spend thinking about your investments? If you are like most people probably not a lot. To take it further how much time do you spend thinking about how you invest in your self. Probably even less time. And yet every moment of every day is spent investing in ourselves in different ways. From the choices you make that affect your quality of life (what you eat, how much you exercise, whether you make time for yourself)) to the more obvious ways we spend our time (investing in friendships, reading and learning new skills); these are all investments in who we are and ultimately our happiness.
Its easy to see that you should invest in stocks that benefit your retirement, but maybe sometimes harder to see that you should invest in that art class that makes you happy, but you think you don’t have time for. Is it that you don’t have time for it or that you maybe don’t think that it is OK to spend that time on something just for yourself?
I love to read, and yet up until more recently, I would never actually read during the day. My kids would barely know that I liked to read, because although I would read to them, I only read my own book after thay went to bed. As a parent, it feels indulgent to take time for oneself. When your kids are small it is, quite simply, not possible. As my kids have grown older, I have fallen into the habit, that when they are awake and around we are spending time together, or in some way contributing to the household (laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, etc.) . We spend so much time rushing from one kid activity to the next it is easy to miss the fact that I don’t always spend that much time on my own activities. To spend time on something for me only feels indulgent. And yet if I don’t invest time in my own personal development and interests, then I will lose that side of me. I will lose that rich part of who I am that contributes to what makes me happy and my happiness will be completely wrapped up in my kids.
Having your happiness reliant on that of your kids is clearly not healthy. Although I want them to grow up to be happy well rounded individuals, it is not fair to burden them with my happiness resting on their shoulders. Rather, they need to be able to feel the full range of their emotions and know that they have a safe space to experience that. My investing in my own personal development, quality of life, and happiness, I can create a life where we can all find our own way. Rather than seeing time investing in myself as selfish, I need to change my perspective to see it as investing in our family.
Convinced? Here are some steps to get you started investing in your life:
Identify the areas of your life that are not the way you want them to be.
Sort these into major categories such as physical, emotional, intellectual, academic, job-related, relational, spiritual, etc.
Prioritize your list: What one item in each area can you do something (small or big) about right now?
Determine what you are willing to invest in that area, both money and time.
Take action.
Continually evaluate, assess, and re-adjust.
“There is no more profitable investment than investing in yourself. It is the best investment you can make; you can never go wrong with it. It is the true way to improve yourself to be the best version of you and lets you be able to best serve those around you.” - Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart