14 Ways to Invest in Yourself for a Successful Future
Tips on how you can sow the seeds of a wonderful future.
The word invest is closely related to money. But it isn’t limited to it.
Investing is defined as putting money, effort, time, etc. into something to make a profit or gain an advantage.
The core of investing I think is intelligent hope.
We make contributions so that they will likely reap rewards in the future and ensure a much better outcome than if we had not.
Investment through money is quite well-known and straightforward, isn’t it?
We all have some idea about it through property, mutual funds, stocks, gold, etc.
But, what about ourselves? How can you invest in yourself?
Let’s get into this.
What does it mean to invest in yourself?
We had a simple explanation as to the word invest just above. Let’s use it to understand what it would mean in our context.
Here’s my take:
Investing in yourself is putting time, energy, and attention into activities that will shape you into a happy, peaceful, wise, and successful person.
Note: By success, I’m not referring solely to career success, but success at living a fulfilling life as a good person.
And, bear in mind, this is not just for young people.
An old Chinese proverb that holds so much power says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
Yes, it’s great to shape good habits when young but that isn’t an excuse to do it now, whatever age you are.
It’s not too late. Let’s open the mental cages we lock ourselves in.
And, with that, let us now learn how we can begin to invest in ourselves. I have given many ideas. Don’t feel overwhelmed by it.
You can do a lot, but you don’t have to do it all. Take it one by one.
Pick what is easiest for you to start with at first and then move on to the next.
How to invest in yourself
- Become a grateful person
- Talk to yourself kindly
- Connect with your breath
- Introspect
- Become more ethical
- Focus on what truly matters
- Stay in touch with friends
- Keep learning
- Drink enough water
- Exercise regularly
- Maintain your hobbies
- Have the courage to let go
- Preserve memories
- Give yourself chances
1. Become a grateful person
A grateful person is not just someone who shares gratitude quotes, thanks people when they are helped, or who talks positively all the time.
A grateful person is at their core, humble and active.
They are humble because they realize how they are supported in a million more ways than they realize.
Everything that we are able to do and learn is through the help of others, be it other human beings, animals, or the environment.
This humility makes grateful people active. Grateful people are more helpful, altruistic, and compassionate—in other words, more prosocial.
They are more empathetic and sensitive to the pain of others. These qualities make them assets to the planet.
And, gratitude brings happiness. That’s what everyone wants, right? Becoming an actively grateful person is the best thing that you can do to live happily.
One activity that I suggest for this is keeping a gratitude journal.
This will help you practice gratitude and reshape the way you have thought about life and its moments.
2. Talk to yourself kindly
Let’s get one thing out of the way - talking to yourself kindly does not translate to being unaccountable or unrealistic. It’s far more constructive than that.
How you talk to yourself manifests in the relationship you have with yourself and how you respond to situations.
Kindness is not silly. It is helpful to reason with yourself and comes to helpful conclusions.
A great way to practice this is through positive affirmations. Positive affirmations train your mind to become a caring, hopeful, and wise friend.
I’ll give you an example, right now I’m not feeling so good. I feel doubtful about my abilities and disappointed someone.
My initial thoughts were, “I’ve ruined this. I’m not doing well. What is wrong with me?”
But then as it always happens now, I paused and asked myself if this is really what was happening.
I then think, “Although I could’ve done better, I now know how to. I am glad that I have someone to guide me. This is a part of how I will learn more.”
Positive self-talk comforts you but also makes you think constructively. When has demotivating yourself really helped?
It is through appreciation, understanding, and trust that people do their best.
3. Connect with your breath
I know you know about this, we all do. I am breathing right now, and so are you. But, how aware are we of this breath that is the sign of our life?
Deep breathing, also called Diaphragmatic breathing, is a practice that helps us connect to not only our body but the present.
And, it has several proven health benefits. Some of them are:
- Decreased stress
- Lowers high blood pressure
- Increases immunity
As deep breathing doesn’t occur naturally to us, it will take regular practice.
For starters, take one minute out of your day when you know you will be undisturbed, and do deep breathing.
You can try out the 4-7-8 breathing technique through this video:
4. Introspect
I have found that reflecting and introspecting with yourself can deeply help in guiding our choices.
Things feel so rushed, reactive, and automatic these days. Time flies by without pausing.
Let’s get to know ourselves. Introspection is a process that involves looking inward to examine one's own thoughts and emotions.
It helps in increasing personal knowledge in a way that nothing else can.
Also, it helps us make connections and realizations about experiences that we wouldn’t have otherwise.
Get started with introspection with these self-reflection prompts.
5. Become more ethical
We all have a responsibility to others and this planet because we exist together.
Investing in the good of others is a part of investing in yourself as we are connected.
So, to become more ethical, sensitize yourself.
I have always believed that sensitive people have incredible strength.
Let’s connect to the problems and suffering that other people, animals, and the environment goes through.
Let’s understand it, and take steps in our capacity to ameliorate them.
As you create a better world around you, you receive the best as you get to live in it.
6. Focus on what truly matters
The simple solution to having a calmer life is to put your time, energy, and attention into what really matters.
This means focusing on the people you love, spending less time scrolling through Instagram, setting boundaries, being in nature, working for something that you strongly feel for, making personal choices that you want to make (not someone else’s expectations), and taking care of your health.
7. Stay in touch with friends
As we grow older, we talk less and less with our friends.
At least for me, I’ve gone from seeing my best friends every day, to sending messages on WhatsApp from time to time.
With some, it’s once in a couple of months.
And, it’s not even that I don’t think about them.
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason we drift apart in communication, but it’s something that I want to improve.
So, what I do now is that I send random audio messages and photos and texts whenever they pop into my mind.
Almost all of my friends live in different cities now so this really helps start a conversation.
We learn about what’s going on and I’m glad to invest in my beautiful relationships.
Also, by friends, I am also referring to family members like aunts and cousins.
Stay close to the people you love. Time flies by and later we wish we would’ve taken these steps.
8. Keep learning
We live in golden times as far as accessibility to information is concerned.
Platforms like Coursera, YouTube, Skillshare, and so many more are incredible places where we can learn about a gazillion things.
I am truly amazed at how easy it has become. So, let’s embrace this extraordinary that we have and continue learning.
Be it about skills you want to try out or learn about sustainable development or astronomy, you have it all at the reach of your fingertips.
9. Drink enough water
That’s something I’ve now become quite focused on.
I, for some reason, have been a camel in civilization.
I either forgot to drink water or didn’t really care for it. But, I’ve become serious now.
I’m relying on my water tracker to drink 8 glasses daily.
10. Exercise regularly
Another piece of advice we all know.
If you live an especially sedentary lifestyle due to your job, please take out at least 10 minutes to exercise 5 days a week - that’s the bare minimum.
Also, take care of your eyes.
We spend more and more time looking at screens, taking frequent rests, looking at greenery, and doing eye exercises.
11. Maintain your hobbies
As other priorities take center stage, make sure to stay in touch with what you enjoy doing.
As for me, I really like to be around animals and do hand-lettering, and watch shows I like.
Sometimes it gets so busy or I simply forget to do them. But then, I consciously make time for them. And, it’s delightful!
Research shows that hobbies help in reducing stress, enhancing well-being, and improving our mental health.
12. Have the courage to let go
One of the most helpful things that you can invest in yourself is by having the courage to let go.
Let go of resentment, draining friendships, bad habits, anger, expectations, comparison, unhelpful desires, people-pleasing, and more.
Which part of your life or yourself do you think you should let go of for more peace?
13. Preserve memories
Take photos of sweet moments, write in your journal, send letters to your future self, print photo albums, make videos of your parents laughing, and save these moments to reflect on in your future.
We forget these beautiful moments so quickly, let’s treasure them in memory.
14. Give yourself chances
To truly invest in yourself, invest in your strong ideas and dreams. Invest in becoming a better person.
Give yourself the chance to try your hands on that dream you always wanted.
If you’re not in the best place, give yourself the chance to come out of it.
Never limit yourself from becoming as healthy as you can be, for yourself and the world.
And, that’s it! These were my 14 tips on investing in yourself. I wish you a joyful life, one where you not only create a good life for yourself but for others and the world.
Have a blessed day!
Continue Reading: 15 Easy & Simple Positive Thinking Exercises To Improve Your Mood
