When you hear the word “investing,” it’s likely that your mind goes to several places: portfolio, diversification, stocks, bonds, and maybe even commodities. However, investing doesn’t have to simply imply you’re putting money down to increase your wealth for the future; sometimes, the best investment you can make is in yourself.
Investing is a large industry dedicated to the idea of using capital to generate more capital. Of course, it’s highly suggested that you do invest and diversify your portfolio. But, in many other instances, investing time and energy – which, just like money, exist in a finite supply – in yourself can lead to a meaningful payoff as well. Sometimes, that payoff can include the accumulation of wealth.
It’s just a matter of application and making a proper plan.
Serge Robichaud is a bilingual financial professional with a track record of managing client accounts and providing comprehensive financial planning services. He holds a life license designation and has completed the second examination of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He has also successfully completed several financial planning courses and certifications through the Canadian Securities Institute.
However, outside of being an adept financial planner, Robichaud is also a passionate health and fitness enthusiast with a firm belief system in being the best version of yourself. He regularly writes about his hobbies across multiple digital platforms, including his love for health and fitness.
“Just like you want to accumulate wealth over time to account for differing circumstances in the future, you want to invest time and energy into yourself to make sure that you’re arriving at your future destination as the best possible version of yourself,” explains Robichaud. “Investing is an interesting science of balancing analysis with risk tolerance – investing in yourself isn’t that different. You need to balance the pros and cons of putting time and energy into yourself and try to project your desired outcome, and weigh how these efforts will impact your future.”
Today, we’re going to explore several ways you can invest in yourself.
Professional Certifications
“In some cases, just having a college degree might not be the right kind of continuing education for you,” says Robichaud. “Some employers are far more interested in specialized skills and credentials. Company hierarchies in the modern workplace are optimized by a diversity of detailed knowledge that can come in the form of professional-level certifications.”
There aren’t many industries that don’t encourage the attainment of specialized credentials.
Take a look at Robichaud’s industry, finance, as an example. Most career-minded jobs in that sector require a minimum of a college degree, But some of the most successful financial planners are usually Certified Financial Planners who hold a CFP designation. Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs) also enjoy a high level of credibility in the investment management space. There’s even a professional designation for investment professionals who specialize in analyzing stock charts: Chartered Market Technicians.
In many cases, these certifications can be earned while working a full-time job. Some employers may even compensate for the costs associated with them.
Get Healthy
“The benefits of living a healthier lifestyle are very obvious: living a longer life, feeling better, and being able to physically do more are all objectively good things,” says Robichaud.
Living a healthier lifestyle enables you to have greater physical and mental fortitude, and this concept is backed up by science. Healthy eating patterns, such as following a Mediterranean diet, are often associated with better mental health when compared to “unhealthy” eating patterns, such as the common Western diet.
The impacts of certain foods or dietary patterns on glycaemic, immune activation, and the gut microbiome all can play a role in the relationships between food and overall mood. However, it’s important to note that additional research is required to understand the complexities to fully understand the mechanisms that link food and mental well-being to determine how and when nutrition can be used to improve mental health.
However, feeling better, or not being distracted by fatigue, allows your mind to stay sharp during sales calls, or when meeting new people, and when you’re being sized up by someone interested in your work. Being at your best ensures you can do your best work.
Keep Your Brain Sharp
By many measures, it’s really a cruel trick. Never before have people been expected to stay more focused as they are now, yet, never before has it been so hard to stop your mind from being overwhelmed by a constant wave of digital data. Your smartphone has a lot to do with that. We check our phones for no particular reason approximately every 12 minutes, while some do so more frequently. So, how can you keep your mind sharp in that environment?
“For one, try to put down the phone a bit more often. Then, start following some other steps,” explains Robichaud. “Try meditating, or taking a walk in nature without checking your phone. Maybe even try having dedicated family time where you eat dinner with your spouse and or kids without any technology involved.”
Keeping your brain sharp is going to be essential, especially as you age.
Don’t hesitate to consider checking in with yourself and putting a little more time, energy, and even money, into bettering your life. You just may find opportunities to improve not only your well-being but your life.
