Self-investing helps improve your self

THE only constant in life is yourself. Everything and everyone else come and go. They might be with you for a season, a reason or a lifetime but the only person you are with 24/7 for your whole lifetime is yourself.

The importance of self-investment cannot be overstated. It’s the bridge that carries you toward the goals you have yet to reach. It is the anchor that keeps you stable in choppy waters. As you invest in yourself, you become more resourceful and better able to navigate the good and the in the bad times. This saves time and you go further faster as you grow.

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT

We have a fixed amount of time in our day. We all have the same amount – 24 hours in the day and 168 hours in the week. Sleep / preparing for sleep takes about one third of our time. Work for most of us takes about 1/3. And we have a third of our time for ourselves, family, personal growth etc.

How are you spending your time? Do you invest it, spend it or waste it. Does how you spend it enhance you or deplete you. Are you using your intelligence to grow and improve yourself or are you using it against yourself ?

Below are 7 tips for self-investment to help you improve yourself.

Be patient. They say it takes a child 4000 attempts to learn to sit up straight. As adults we often expect to be able to do things on the first attempt. Change takes time. Be patient but be persistent.

Have goals – Look at where you are and where you want to go – and have a strategy for getting there. Invest the time, money and energy needed on a regular basis.

Take care of your physical body and health so you can be at your best. The number one performance enhancement tool is sleep. Make sure you are getting enough sleep so you can be at your best on a daily basis. Aim for 150 minutes exercise each week. Eat food that gives you energy throughout the day. Limit consumption of alcohol, sugar, coffee or any foods that disturb your system. Play around with what you eat and design a food menu that makes you feel good throughout the day.

Have a mentor. The one thing all super successful people have in common is they generally have a mentor – someone to guide and support them to be a do better.

Give proper focus to addressing the barriers to your success. Identify them. Sometimes they can be of the mind – having limiting beliefs, negative thoughts or anger or lack of focus. Or they can be more physical – not feeling energized enough. Recently someone I know gave up coffee. Five days in, they are feeling the benefits of it. Barriers can also be of the spirit. The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire. Take time to sit with yourself. To be authentic and true to ourselves we have to know how we feel and live life accordingly. Take that time.

Meditate. The first fruit of meditation is self-awareness. It helps you see yourself neutrally and move from a place of reaction to responding to life.

Remember life is for growing and learning. Failure is only a step on the path of success. Ultimately the only real failure is not trying.

‘Every moment of one’s existence, one is growing into more or retreating into less.’ - Norman Mailer.