Hi there! You know how I said in my last post that I’d be sharing two blog posts per week? Well that didn’t happen last week. I’m “confessing” this as a quick reminder that a) it’s okay to not be perfect, but b) it’s important to as soon as possible get ourselves back on the bandwagon / horse / pick a metaphor haha.
And getting back to what’s important to me has been greatly aided by the investments I have made in myself. Not sure what I’m talking about? To me, investing in myself is intentionally “putting my money where my mouth is”: spending money on things that help me figure out the next steps to my ideal life. So here are three ways I invest in myself + why you should too!
Investment #1: my physical health
I started with this type of personal investment because it is probably the most common of the three or at least the most relatable. Simply put, I spend money on ways of improving my physical health.
One of the “cheaper” ways of doing this is through education, e.g. buying books. If you’ve read my blog before, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of No Meat Athlete: their podcast and their products. An accessible introduction to nutrition and fitness is the No Meat Athlete book by Matt Frazier (I have the “older” version and I actually use it as my mouse mat – Matt the mat, haha!). Another book I bought and enjoyed (though I have yet to finish it) is How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy, Permanent Weight Loss by Michael Greger.
Note: this blog post contains Amazon, SWEAT and Bluehost affiliate links. If you click on my links and purchase products I recommend, I may earn a commission, at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!
Moving up the price points, I have also bought a marathon plan* and a meal plan (that seems no longer available) from No Meat Athlete. *As I said in my last post, I’m shelving my marathon plans for this year to focus on my business, but I believe I have lifetime access to it, so I don’t regret the purchase. If you want to buy a simpler meal plan, I also created one myself that you can get here!
Possibly the biggest investment I have made in my physical health is the SWEAT app as it’s a recurring cost. This is an investment I am happy to make though as to me it’s like having a personal trainer in my pocket! I used to love going to the gym, but now that we have a baby and, you know, coronavirus happened, I’m super happy that I signed up for the SWEAT app. I went through a post-pregnancy program and now I’m doing their “flagship” program, the Bikini Body Guide (BBG).
As I mentioned in a post on Facebook, I’m all about focusing on a big goal and streamlining the rest of my life. Using the app really helps to do that. Rather than trying to piece together workouts from free resources online or flicking through the pages my old Abs Diet book (as mentioned in my most popular blog post), I can just click on the app, do the workout and be done. No drama and no overthinking, so worth it!
If you want my six other resources for getting inspired and healthy, check out this freebie I put together for you!
Investment #2: my personal development
“Personal development” might seem a bit wishy-washy and less tangible than what I just mentioned above. However, the investments I have made in improving my mindset and habits have really paid off. It feels like I am miles away from where I was in my early twenties. And not just in terms of the situation I’m in, but in how I approach the world and what I think about myself.
The first investments I made were in books. The first one might have been The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. I’ve read a few of the “classics” such as The 4-Hour Work Week, though I find Tim Ferriss’s style difficult to relate too. If you want a list of the personal growth podcasts and books I recommend, check out my resources page. I think my favourites are The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and Say Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine. Choose the former for more insights on how to live our lives at the principles level, and the latter for a more pragmatic approach to improving your life.
The big recurring investment I make in my personal development though is my Perfectionists Getting Shit Done membership. Similarly to No Meat Athlete, if you’ve been here for a while, you know that I love all of Sam’s content. I use to read her blog when it was called Smart Twenties and then I was probably one of the early listeners of her podcast, The Perfectionism Project.
BUT the transformation really started to happen when I joined her paid membership. I really started getting out of my own way and actually taking action, most notably on my impossible goal (that I talk about in my quarter one and quarter two recaps). Quick disclaimer: I joined her program when it was significantly cheaper than it is now (and I still pay that lower price), but Sam has also added lots of super valuable stuff since then.
If you want to know how I afford things like this on a PhD scholarship, check out my How to build wealth every month without micro-budgeting blog post.
Investment #3: my business
Despite me trying to keep everything “lean”, there are quite a few running costs associated with having an online business. One of the most common ones, that applies to me, is website hosting. Yes, it’s possible to have a free website, but there’s a lot fewer customisation options and they generally look a lot less professional. If you want to know more about how to set up a website and actually start a blog, you can check out my Becoming a Blogger series from a few years ago:
- How to create the website of your dreams;
- Developing blogging habits – or how to incorporate blogging into your life;
- Creating an editorial calendar, or what and when to write.
Beyond the basic “running expenses” of my business, I’ve also made a huge investment (for me) recently. I’ve bought a course called Uncage Your Business for more than £600. That might seem a ridiculous amount to you, but we (I’m speaking about my generation) often take for granted spending a lot of money on our university education and then a) don’t make the most of it at the time, b) don’t actually “use” the knowledge gained in each class we take.
Anyhoo, this course is all about figuring out the foundations of my business: what exactly I stand for, and *from there* coming up with packages that will be of the most value to the people I will help. Figuring out my message is still work in progress (I’m still on module one), but I wrote a Facebook post about my thoughts on it right now – please check it out!
Why you should invest in yourself
There’s a saying in the “coaching world” that says “the transformation is in the transaction”. What does that mean? Essentially, the idea is that we value things that we pay for more than things we get for free. For example, I wasn’t following Sam’s advice all that much (even though I enjoyed listening to it) until I joined her paid membership. Similarly, I probably wouldn’t go through the whole Uncage Your Business course if someone had sent it to me for free.
But now that I have money on the line, I actually show up, because I have a “stake” in the process, skin in the game, etc. Similarly, I didn’t mention in part one, but I’ve signed up for races to create the same effect. If I pay for my ticket for say the Oxford half-marathon, I then have a deadline to work to with my training program. Also, I spent the money already, so I don’t want to waste it by not showing up. This is very different from saying “I’ll train for a half-marathon someday”.
Simply put, we value what we pay for. A lot of it is “just” our perception of things. Like in the case of the violinist Joshua Bell getting no attention when he played for free in the subway, when he played a sold-out expensive concert two days beforehand. Some people might be able to shift their perspective to value freebies and take action of them. But for most of us, we benefit from investing in something, and then going forward with it, as we’ve already chosen it over other options and we want a return on our investment.
Back to you
Here’s your “homework” for today:
- Have a quick think about ways you’re investing in yourself and ways that you would like to. Share them in the comments for added accountability.
- Check out my Facebook post and tell me there if what I suggest is something I could help you with (I’ll be looking for beta coaching clients soon!).
- Bonus: please buy me a coffee. As I mentioned, this blogging business does cost money. So if you enjoy what I do, please make a small contribution, so I can keep investing in my business and helping as many people as possible!
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