Invest in You

Recently I’ve been working from home, both writing articles for websites and magazines, and also running my own website and small publishing start up from home. That’s a lot of work to be doing if I want to eat and to eventually have time to enjoy life too. While I spend a lot of time working though, I also realise how important it is for me to spend some ‘me’ time. Literally.

In any kind of business, as in life, there are two things you can invest with – time, and money. And in business, as in life, the most important thing to invest in is people. And the most important person – is you. You see whether you’re happy in your job and want to progress, or if you’re not and you’re working towards your own business, a new job or extra qualifications, then you really need to make sure that you’re the best you can be. You need to be better than the competition for that job, or you need to have a fuller understanding of the market and industry. In short you need to be the best, the strongest, the smartest and the best informed.
That’s why when I have a deadline looming, you’ll often find me reading the biography of Richard Branson, Barack Obama, or my personal hero Sylvester Stallone. It’s not idol relaxation – although it is relaxing – it’s inspiring and giving me ideas. That’s why I buy ‘Wired’ magazine, ‘Men’s Health’ and ‘Esquire’ out of my ‘business’ account, as well as a gym membership and various supplements. Role models and inspiration are actually particularly useful, whether you’re the head of a business or the lackey in administration. Either way learn from the greats and keep your finger on the pulse, it’ll keep you at the cutting edge and with the right frame of mind to spot entrepreneurial and business opportunities. It’ll help you make other wise investments and to keep an eye on the future.
If I’m not reading, I might well be in the gym, taking supplements or buying good clothes and equipment. Being fit keeps your mind active, but it also gives you the drive and the determination to succeed in any field. It gives you an air of confidence and makes you more imposing. People will see you and know that you mean business and that you’re capable of setting your mind to something and accomplishing it – which is really what all business is about. You will blow the competition out of the water, you’ll be the complete package.
Furthermore, spending money on nice clothes and accessories/supplies will propel you to success in business and in life. It’s true that you get out of life what you put into it – the more money you put into your appearance and the more you spend on your ability, the more your salary is likely to reflect that. If you take pride in your appearance and accessories – get a good hair cut and a nice pen – then you’ll inspire more confidence in those you’re dealing with. It reflects high standards and ability. I read something interesting just recently, that like spawns like – meaning that you get in life not what you deserve so much as what you’re accustomed to. So if you make yourself accustomed to high standards – high standards will be what you find coming out of life. For example, think about the people in your life – with some you’re careful to be on the top of your game while with others you can relax, indifferent to their opinion. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad guy, it’s natural. If they seem like someone who’s used to being treated with less respect or just not the same admiration because they’ve let themselves go then you will be less concerned with how they see you. Similarly, when thinking of what gift to get someone for Christmas or birthdays you generally spend more on people who are better off. In reality this should actually be the other way around – surely it would be nicer to get something nice for someone who really needs it? And yet we don’t. You see other people will treat you the way you treat you, if you treat yourself well others will follow suit. And you have to respect yourself before others will. So it’s worth investing in you even if it just means better Christmas presents…
If you’ve put time and money into developing every aspect of your game, then you can rely on yourself to perform when necessary. My own personal business model, or it’s more of a maxim really, is do everything yourself. So many individuals and businesses, waste unfathomable amounts of money by hiring unnecessary amounts of staff to perform even the most menial roles, or by outsourcing for a task that they could probably learn themselves. I was tempted to hire someone to programme a website for me the other week as I don’t understand CSS or PHP. But then I had a change of heart – that would probably cost me a couple of hundred quid, which incidentally is pretty much what I earn in a year. But then I had a change of heart and learned CSS and PHP myself – by reading a book then reverse engineering other sites. That took me two days and saved me several hundred pounds. And now whenever I want to invest in a new website I can do the programming myself in a fraction of that time and at no cost. If you’re weak in a certain area, or there’s something you want to do better. Take time out, train, put time in and learn to do it better. Don’t be satisfied with what you’ve got, almost every aspect of yourself can respond to training.
You should also make it my job to be aware of everything that’s happening and upcoming in your field, so that your work can be on the cutting edge and ahead of the competition at all times. Riding the waves of new trends and technologies. Right now I can tell you that made-to-order, consumer designed goods and transhumanism are where my head is at – the future is bespoke.
As well as being fully aware of your field though – be aware of everything in other fields. Combining disparate areas is one of the greatest ways to creativity and originality – and adopting other ideas can help you to succeed too. See what’s working in other industries and try and work out how they can help yours. That’s why I’ve set my home page to Sky News. If you’ve ever seen or read the Watchmen then you might have seen the scene where Ozymandias is sitting watching a giant network of monitors showing every television broadcast in the world at once. A giant wall of sensory information that he uses to identify patterns and trends in the human psyche. Brilliant. And he can catch bullets. See what’s working, or what’s upcoming, give it a unique slant – by simply investing some time into thinking about it – maybe setting side an hour of meditation – then do it. Do it first, do it different or do it best.
More than exercising, reading or buying nice clothes though, you’ll often find me just staring into space thinking. That is possibly the best use of my time I can think of. If you have a specific problem you can set yourself of thinking until you come up with a solution. If you don’t have a problem, what others will write off as ‘daydreaming’ can infact be imagination, creativity, visualisation… and it can lead to a breakthrough. That’s why I’m doing this writing job – so I can invest in my own ideas and be the only person reaping from those rewards. I watch Dragon’s Den and I’m always confused by those people – they have these ideas that they genuinely believe will make them millionaires, but then they give half of the profit to someone else, and half of the control. Why not have a business plan where they can start from scratch, where they can earn enough money a the beginning to invest in themselves?

Investing yourself is one stock that you can control, economic crisis or not. Why invest in a business that could go south at any moment because of bad management when you could invest in a business and a CEO that you can control every facet of. In any crisis you need to put money into the economy for it to recover – and you need to put money into yourself if you’re going to get it back.
If you think about anyone truly successful you’ll see that they are usually in good shape, great public speakers, fully aware of everything that’s currently going on in their field. I recently saw Richard Branson interviewed and was actually really surprised that he was as shy and nervous as he was. He’s a pioneer, a great businessman, an adventurer… he should just spend some time to complete his game and fulfil his potential by becoming a good spokesperson and improving his confidence. (Lol – because Richard Branson really needs to be taking advice from me… still it’s a valid point!). The other month I graduated – a bunch old chancellors and deans marched around the hall at a snail’s pace, doddering around, before speaking uncharismatically for half an hour. These guys are supposed to be ambassadors for the university, they’re supposed to inspire respect. If they want me to respect them they need to earn it. They need to get in the gym!
And of course there’s a chance you could fail if you invest in yourself, that you might end up losing money and time, ending up with nothing. If you do then that’s great – you’ve learned a lesson and increased the challenge. Pick yourself up and try again, taking the lessons you’ve learned and do it again better.
Investing in yourself will help you in your business life, your private life and your love life. Like anything else, you need to put the time and money into yourself get the time and money out. And that’s the best investment you can possibly make.