Your Greatest Investment Is… YOU!

I had never heard the phrase “Invest in Yourself” until about two years ago, when I registered for Vicki Irvin’s Extreme Women’s Entrepreneur’s Conference in Virginia. And not only that… I signed up for the VIP package specifically to attend the session on How to Publish Your First Book. I’d just completed writing my book, The C Word, and knew the next thing I’d have to navigate was how to get it published. I’d heard so many horror stories on self-publishing that, I’ll admit, it had me really scared and totally turned off from the idea. Literally one of the last sessions of the four-day experience was the Book Publishing piece, presented by Author, Business Success Strategist, Speaker, and CEO of SheEO Publishing, Ari Squires. I was front and center and all ears for her presentation, which did not disappoint. I got enough information to know that I wanted more, so when she announced that she’d be hosting her “Release That Book Bootcamp”, I knew that I had to be there. How? I didn’t know. Especially since I was saving every dime to buy a new house, and I’d already exhausted my creative spending resourcefulness to be at the conference I was sitting in! But I got the registration paid and even had the opportunity to speak with Ari for a couple minutes. Leaving the conference later that day I felt fulfilled, even though there were a couple of other mentoring opportunities from other speakers, including the conference host, that I was unable to take advantage of. I felt quite discouraged on that 3rd day, knowing my situation and just how far I could stretch my “find-a-way” monetary resource skills. If there was one thing I took to heart from the EWE Conference is that you have to believe in your worth and not be afraid to charge well for the sharing of your gifts, your products and your services. I can’t tell you how many times I let people talk me out of my prices or talk me into giving something away complimentary, not taking value in my own gifts. That will never happen again. Thank you Vicki Irvin! You can check out her products and services here.

In hindsight I’ve realized a few things. (Don’t we all?!) #1: Your greatest investment is in YOU. You have to spend money to make money, even if it’s a small amount, and you should start by spending it on you for the future of your success. You have to make the decision to delay some monetary gratifications in order to pay for the training and impartation of knowledge to take you to the next level in your endeavor. But you have to start where you are. Some people have the testimony of maxing out their credit cards or selling all their worldly goods or draining their savings account or finding a corner (clears throat) to finance a program or mentor opportunity or anything else that will get you to the point of success you desire. However…. that’s not the path for some of us, as I believe is the way it should be. Everyone’s path is their path. But you do have to do SOMETHING. From Instagram to Steve Harvey, the word on the street is you have “jump” in order to move towards your dreams and your goal. All kinds of red flags go up with that for me. Some people may be able to simply jump, make some adjustments here and there and be able to thrive. Others will read a quote that says “Do it Scared”, and go into the office one day and quit without a plan and the next month when the mortgage is due, that dream has become a nightmare! Why I gotta be homeless and broke down before I “make it?” I’m just saying. Anyway… I am of the mindset that you must first qualify your jump. As a woman of God I pray about EVERYTHING. Once I gather the info, ponder it all and get an “ok to proceed” from my gut, then I’m good to go. Until my gut, which houses the Holy Spirit, signs off on it, I don’t move. That’s just me. (You can learn a lot more about me from what I shared in a previous post here.) You can embark upon less riskier “jumps” that will move you in the right direction. For me it was going back to Virginia a couple months later for the Book Publishing Bootcamp, which proved to be invaluable, providing so much information into the process that I felt like if I hadn’t of attended, I wouldn’t be a published author today! It was exactly what I needed to move forward with my goal. That trip, including registration, airfare, hotel, car rental (because the hotel wasn’t close to the airport), was quite an expense for me. But I knew I had to be at the table. Then turned around and attended yet a third seminar in Virginia a couple months later! That was three trips to the East Coast in four months. Yikes! Now did this mean I couldn’t get the marble kitchen counter top that I was planning for my home that I was building at the time? Absolutely. But looking back, I know I made the right decision to go, all three times. I can upgrade my counter top later.

Take the time to seek out as much knowledge on whatever you are working on. Everything won’t be free. You have to pay someone who knows more about what you’re trying to do than you sometimes. Talent and intuition will only take you so far. Self-investment is a must. I’m nowhere near where I want to be, but trust me, I am always going to sign up for some seminar, class, webinar or conference that I believe will help expand my knowledge-base to take me further and higher, step-by-step. Ari Squires was very instrumental in this knowledge expansion. She is professional and thorough, and always, ALWAYS, over delivers. You can instantly pick up on her genuine desire to see you succeed. And as experienced with my book publishing process, if there’s something she’s not 100% sure of, she will tell you and get back to you promptly with the answer or solution. I love that about her! If you can’t at least get started by applying her tips and nuggets shared on social media then I don’t know what to tell you, haha!!! I hope to one day be able to work with her on a larger scale so I can learn and grow even more. You can check out her products and services here.

Again, ultimately I’ve learned that investing in yourself is a must. But I’ve also learned that you have to, and you CAN, start where you are. It’s totally okay. And it doesn’t put you any further behind as long as you remain focused, determined, disciplined, and willing to make sacrifices for your dream. You may not have $10,000 to sign up for an elaborate, detailed mentorship, but maybe you can go to a conference, or join a webinar, or follow someone’s blog. The point is to simply get started investing in YOU, at whatever stage you’re at. Now if you’re lazy, prone to procrastination, and think you know it all, then that’s a whole other blog post. The old Christian saying applies: if you take one step, God will take two. You just have to get moving. And you can’t just do what everyone else is doing. Everybody’s hustle, grind, strategy is different. What works for one, two, five, ten or one hundred, may not work for you, no matter how similar your endeavors are. You must learn to let your “You-ness” guide your decisions and lead the way. Remember, the greatest investment you will ever make is in YOU!