I read in a book once (I can't remember the name, but it was by Brian Tracy) that you should invest the same amount of money in your personal and professional development per year as you do in your vehicle. Doesn't that make total sense?! I take my car in at least once a year for maintenance. It's often a nice chunk of change to get everything done, yet I don't even bat an eye when I hand over my Visa. You see, in my mind, there's no other option - I have to make the investment or my car won't run at optimum efficiency and I could be left stranded on the side of the road.
I have a different perspective when it comes to investing in my personal and professional development - one that I am looking to squash. I often hum and hah over the smallest amounts of dough being forked over. Isn't this a horrible approach? What happens when we don't stimulate our minds and fuel our ideas? What happens when we don't take care of our bodies? I'll tell ya what happens - we become slow, stale, broken and uninspired versions of ourselves. How does our brain even begin to convince us that we can do without?
Many of us have this voice inside of our mind where we can justify not spending money on ourselves. WE can go without. WE don't need it. There are things that are higher on the priority list. Blah Blah Blah.
Personal and professional development keeps up fresh, current and able to be competitive in the marketplace. If you don't keep introducing new concepts and ideas in your field then you will eventually become bored, stale and old news. If you don't know what the trends are then you will be left in the dirt. If you don't put yourself in a position to do some deep self reflection and reconnect with who you are and what your mission is then you will start to feel lost among all the clutter. And more often than not, you can't create this learning on your own. You must seek out seminars, coaches, workshops, speakers, courses (and coffee dates) in order to advance your learning and gain some momentum.
I had a chat today with a professional coach in Calgary named Jen Lofgren and she really inspired me. She is taking total ownership of her coaching career and she is being incredibly courageous in her approach. She is starting to gain some massive momentum. I can't wait to see the impact she makes! What inspired me the most was her long list of systems and applications that she has trained in. She's taken the time to implement some really unique processes into her coaching. After the initial investment, she now has a lot of tools at her disposal and she is brilliantly armed for world domination ;) Mad props to her for being willing to take risks and see the value in personal investment.
I have been doing some research as of late about a workshop or a course that I want to take to help push me. Have you taken a course lately that has really inspired you? If yes, I would love to hear about it! I envy those who see the value in investing in themselves. I want to become that type of person - one who makes their own development a higher priority than (or atleast equal to) the upkeep of their car.
Kyle
ps- I do love my car though and it runs really awesome ;) I assume because I have been treating it like gold for the past 10 years!
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