Got any good stock tips? Should we buy or sell? Where should we invest? And not just our money, what about our precious time and energy? Important questions to consider as we look towards the future and want to ensure stability in unstable times.
I remember my freshman-year business professor advising us to begin saving for our retirement as soon as possible. To us, like most 20-somethings, retirement and the future seemed out of touch and far away. For fun we would input the basic equation into our calculators to see how much we could save by the time we were 55, 60 and 65 years old. It was always exciting to see the thousands, sometimes millions pop up on the calculator screen. The sooner we started, the greater the pot of gold.
Do you think we took the advice and started saving? I'm sure a few smart kids did but I wasn't a part of that group. At that age, I wasn't concerned for the future or making choices that aligned with any future goals. In fact, I didn't have many goals in those days and it didn't feel like we had much to spare or that it would account for much. Of course, the whole point was that the sooner we started, the smaller the sacrifice would have to be, compared to starting later. I didn't have good awareness of the bigger picture. There had to be some discipline and patience to invest like that. Now as I get older and have a family and others to take care of, saving has become very important to me because the future is much easier to touch and see.
Managing money and assets will always play an important role in life and the sooner we start, the easier it gets. This is also true for any type of investment, particularly personal development, which is the constant pursuit of betterment on the wholeness of the individual self. According to Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author and motivational coach, personal development is a "lifelong commitment and investment in learning, growing and evolving, which not only enhances our own lives but also has the potential to transform the world around us." He goes on to say, "The best investment we can make is in ourselves."
Our finances make up a segment of our personal development, but we need to consider other areas like our physical and mental health, our relationships with family, friends and community, our connection to the world and our deeper purpose. We could have all the financial stability in the world but be unable to enjoy it due to poor health. We could be financially comfortable and have great health but be completely alone having no one with whom to share life. We could have great wealth, health and social fulfillment but still feel empty inside without a deeper connection and meaning. We need to diversify our investments.
Personal development, like financial savings, takes discipline and goal setting. Once we begin to see some results from the discipline, it is a lot easier to keep going. Setting goals and "investing" in ourselves, no matter our age, is something that will help us continue to regenerate. Even more important than achieving those goals is in whom we will become while achieving them. Setting big goals for ourselves that excite us will bring about a greater discipline and enjoyment from life.
A good amount of resistance can help us get stronger. In fact, our whole lives are built from resistance, whether we have chosen to embrace them or use them as excuses. Much like I was unable to truly embrace early investment in my younger years, sometimes as we get older we think our personal development is over. To the contrary, life is dynamic and we only have today. This shouldn't be a reason to settle, but a reason to embrace the opportunity for investing in ourselves each day.
Another great quote from Jim Rohn: "Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better. Don't wish for fewer problems, wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom." Rohn's message is to see challenges as chances to grow and learn. To have a student's mindset, no matter the age and stage of our lives. The student, similar to a child, has enthusiasm and nothing can beat it.
Tim Hahn of Springfield is a husband and a father. He and his wife, Molly, run a local business that teaches wellness practices.
