Investing in Yourself
There is an ongoing debate within the FIRE movement about whether it's okay to enjoy your work / career or simply focus on working at a job (doesn't matter what it is as long as it pays), living below your means and saving aggressively in order to retire early. Many of these folks don't like what they do, so they simply endure their job to achieve FIRE. Then there are are others who actually love what they do, while they still have the objective of retiring early. Part of that debate also centers around quality of life. Is it okay to spend some money on living a little (maybe a nice dinner once in a while or a trip), or is it better to be extremely frugal in order to accelerate savings?
All of this discussion centers on working, which provides the means of survival and saving up for retirement, whether you like the job or not. If you have chosen your career wisely, I would argue that your job could be your best investment. This is true especially if you do what you love, since you tend to excel when you are in that situation.
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
For those who are lucky enough to have found meaningful work, a stable company and a great team that is high-performing and fun to be around, it's a sort of nirvana. This can lead to a virtuous cycle of progressive opportunities, promotions and of course raises and bonuses, which can help accelerate your savings. This "top line" growth can perhaps be more effective than cutting down on living expenses in order to accelerate savings. Once your savings builds up enough, you can begin Building a Financial Fortress to help ensure that you can protect and grow your hard-earned wealth.
I would argue that investing in yourself, by improving your skills on the job through training opportunities and seeking out new challenges, is often under-appreciated. In fact, I would say today with so many people talking about having one or more "side hustles," there's even less focus on your primary job. Honestly, the time spent on side hustles often simply doesn't pay off like investing in your career. If you can create the time and space at work to think and plan ahead strategically, you can further accelerate that investment through preparation, whether that's for an important meeting or for getting your team ready for change. If can master your day job, and if you still have the energy, you can come home after a full and satisfying day at work and spend your spare time in the evening working on your side hustle.
Here are a few other thoughts on investing in yourself:
You might need to take things to the next level with an MBA (maybe your company even reimburses for it), leadership training, or technical training.
Ideally you should have a mentor that can help you figure out what's best for you to maximize your investment in yourself
Leaving your job for another opportunity may seem tempting, but consider whether your opportunity is as good or better where you are - sometimes your best opportunity is right in front of you
If you are interested in other investing ideas, please check out my books here.
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