3 Reasons To Invest In Yourself

Investing in yourself as a leader should be a no brainer, but we can find it hard to spend money on things that don't have an immediate return. We love handing over ca$h for a fun new item, or a beautiful dinner - but what about long term returns? Things that bring you rewards over a longer period of time?

Investing in yourself is one of those, you're all "yeah, cool, ok" reading about how some course or program is going to help you make loads more money on Instagram and then you get to the check out page and you get a bit like "um, no, no, not right now". 

I want to encourage you to jump at the chance to learn new skills. Be obsessed with growing yourself, learning new things and adding to your knowledge.

Here's why I encourage anyone I coach or mentor to keep learning:

We can boost our confidence by learning new skills, and being able to handle situations more effectively than we could before. Confidence and motivation are closely linked, as Jeff Haden explains in his book The Motivation Myth, motivation isn't a 'spark' its the result of achieving (it's more like success > motivation > more success > more motivation). The act of doing something so positive like learning, and especially when you put the skill into practise and see results, that helps to motivate you which in turns supports your self confidence. Investing in yourself also says some truly meaningful things to YOU about how you feel about YOU.

When you invest in yourself, you reaffirm these self beliefs:

• I deserve to be invested in. You absolutely deserve it. You are worth it.  
• I can achieve my goals. You can grow, you can do hard things, you are motivated to succeed.
• I've got this, I can afford this. You back yourself, you know that you will always be able to recoup the cost of the investment.

A growth mindset means that you accept that you can change and learn. It's the opposite of "this is who I am and this is how I'll always be". Ew. Carol Dweck in her groundbreaking research into the power of our mindset uncovered that those with a growth mindset achieve more. If you're a leader, it's likely that you have been told that you're 'bright' or 'intelligent' in your life, and what's interesting is that words like that can stop us from taking on challenges because we don't want to risk failure and risk no longer being seen as "bright" or "intelligent". 

Embracing and nurturing a growth mindset allows you to accept that there's things you don't know, open yourself up to failure (because you can still learn from that) and aim to be a little bit better tomorrow than you are today.

 Here is why you, as a leader should be ALWAYS learning:

• Don't get left behind. Perspectives, culture, processes and skill needs change so fast in our VUCA world. I think back to even just 3 years ago, and how I manage people now vs. then is SO different.As the leader, you are responsible for transformation, growth and strategy - you need to know the current growth levers, the right elements that need to be transformed and the insights on the market. When you're always learning, you can stay relevant and effective. 
• Role model for others. You expect your team and peers to always learn and grow right? To get better at their jobs, to communicate better, learn to collaborate more efectively? How can you expect that if you aren't also growing yourself. 
• Attract and create advocates. Leaders need followers, and they also need champions - people who will say their name in a room of opportunity, people who advocate for them and refer others to them. When you invest in yourself, and others can see that, it says that you're always getting better and better - and also, if you don't invest in yourself, why would anyone else?

If you had $2,000 and you invested that into the Australian Stock Exchange >> in one year you might have $2,200. A return of $200 (10%) - that's not bad! 

BUT WHAT IF...

You spent $2,000 learning a new skill that related to your business or your job? Imagine what that would do to your earning potential in your career - you'd definitely be able to earn more than an extra $200 in a year, it's probably more like an extra $5k - $10k so you're not just covering the costs of the investment but you're reaping MUCH more back. 

Alex Hormozi explains in his chat on The School Of Greatness podcast about stacking skills.

• Learn new skills and stack them on top of one another.
• Then you get disproportionate returns on all the prior skills with each new additional skill.
• It's not a 1 (new skill) + 1 (new skill) + (1) new skill = 3. It's more like 1 + 1 + 1 = 7
• Don't worry about which course or program to do, do them ALL. You'll never regret learning something.

How to decide what to invest in should be dictated by:

• Your economic ability. What can you afford to do? Do you have funds right now, or would you borrow - for example would you go into debt for a $5k course, that would then mean you could earn $20k more in salary next year?
• Your time availability. How much time are you willing to dedicate to learning? It's certainly a "you get out what you put in" kind of relationship. 
• What skills would help you the most right now and in the future? If you could be amazing at something, what would have the biggest impact on your life right now? Sales? Growth? Leadership? 
• How you like to learn. Like to learn face to face? Look for masterminds, groups or networks that run in person events. Happy to learn online? Look for online courses and programs. Want to bounce off others? Look for group coaching and networks. Ideally, you'd do a mix of all of these.

Over my career, I've spent over $100k on my own development. Leadership programs, books, masterminds, courses, accreditations, coaches - and it's all been worth it. I don't regret a single dollar of it, and the investment has returned to me many times over. 

Can I help you with your leadership growth? Check out these resources:

• New Leader Checklist: the 5 steps every leader should take to set themselves up for success in their role. SUPER valuable for leaders at any stage really. 
• Bright Sparks Blog: Check out other articles plus leadership book reviews and profiling reviews for more juicy leadership tips.
• Apply for the next intake here: Epic Self Leadership Program
• Sign Up to the Best & Brightest email newsletters and I'll deliver shiny new, epic leadership guidance to your inbox each week.
• Learn about YOU with Science Of Self: discover what makes you tick, what makes you successful and what could be getting in your way with a profiling tool and 60 page personalised eBook.