Why investing in yourself is your greatest asset

We live in an age where information is readily available at a touch of a button. This opens up many possibilities and opportunities for all of us to develop in key ways. Whether we are looking to develop in our professional life as an employee or to take our business to the next level, investment is crucial.

However, people often neglect to invest in their own development and instead choose to invest in other areas, such as additional resources or new team members. Investing in yourself is crucial if you want to succeed in your professional life.

We recognise that not everyone is interested in becoming a business owner. But, even if you are in the corporate world and intend to stay there, you should always look to invest in yourself and develop your own key skills.

Focusing on your own professional development, whether it is online or offline, can yield great benefits for your long term aspirations. For example, if you are looking for a promotion or to change roles, having the right skills in the right areas can give you an edge over others.

Now, this week's blog is not designed to focus on the job market but a lot of the principles and reasons we explore in this blog, can be applied to the corporate world or the life of an entrepreneur. We want to shed some light on why investing in yourself is your greatest asset.

What do we mean by investing in yourself?
There are many different ways that you can invest in yourself and there is no right or wrong answer. However, it is important to constantly take time out of your week to focus on developing your own skill set. There are a number of ways that you can develop yourself and it doesn’t require a huge monetary investment. What is more important is having the commitment to self improve and building this into your weekly routine.

Having said that, we have identified a number of ways that you can invest in yourself that we have detailed below.

Online courses
With the current global situation, there has actually been a huge rise in internet usage with the average person now spending over 4 hours per day online. Added to this are the rise in popularity of educational platforms such as Udemy and Google Garage.

These initiatives are a great way for people to learn new skills in a variety of areas. From digital marketing to sales to coding, there are now more options than ever before to develop new skills.

The majority of the online courses available are inexpensive and can be completed at your own pace which makes it ideal when you are trying to juggle self development with your day to day priorities.

Workshops
A number of organisations and training companies specialise in delivering workshops with the very aim of helping people develop new skills. Although workshops have been scaled back in recent months because of the pandemic, there are still a number of training providers that are hosting events.

For some people, attending live workshops is their preferred method of accessing new skills as the content is delivered in a more personable way. Furthermore, especially in the corporate world, organisations are actually keen to send key personnel on workshops as employees can develop skills that can be deployed within a person's job role.

Professional accreditation
As we have seen above, enrolling for online courses or attending workshops are a great way to invest in your self development. However, in certain professions or to access industry standard qualifications, there is sometimes a necessity to obtain professional accreditation.

For instance, looking at the realm of digital marketing, an industry recognised qualification can be achieved by completing a diploma with the Digital Marketing Institute. This will allow people working in the digital marketing sector to demonstrate to future employers or prospective clients that they have the knowledge to deliver a range of marketing initiatives.

Another example of a professional qualification comes in the form of the Facebook Blueprint certification that is designed to enable users to understand and implement Facebook advertising campaigns. There are actually a range of qualifications that anyone can access depending on their industry sector but it does require dedication and commitment as there is often a syllabus that needs to be followed and a final exam.

Mindset
While we can all research and decide the best course of action when it comes to investing in ourselves, nothing can truly be achieved without the right mindset. Often, investing in yourself requires you to make a time sacrifice to dedicate yourself to improving.

For example, you may buy a new online course or decide to pursue a professional qualification but if you don’t have the mindset to succeed, you will not achieve your end goal. This is because the journey of self improvement and investing in yourself is not a one time project. Rather, it is a continual process that needs your constant attention to develop your skills.

All of this boils down to your mindset and understanding that for you to succeed, you need to have the mindset to gain a competitive edge over others.

Stepping outside of your comfort zone
As humans, we are all creatures of habit and are often against change. However, we are sure you have heard the phrase, “life begins at the end of your comfort zone”. This is because once you step outside of your comfort zone, you are stepping into a new area and this involves you learning new skills or placing yourself in a new environment.

When you step outside of your comfort zone, whether that is a new business or a new job, you are actually forced to focus your mind on a new challenge. As with most things in life, the more you place yourself in different situations, the more you adapt and develop as an individual.

Some of the biggest changes we can all make, whether in our professional or personal life, is when we step outside of our comfort zone and try something new.

Confidence
Investing in yourself also gives you the confidence to exceed your aims. The reality is that most people don’t take the time to invest in personal development and become comfortable in their existing situation.

However, if you are looking to make a real change in your life and you invest in yourself, you can actually gain so much confidence that will help you in the long term. Analysing every successful person and one thing you’ll realise is that the individual had the confidence and self belief to succeed.

While mindset plays an important part in this, by investing in yourself and obtaining new skills, you actually build the confidence to succeed.

Sharpening your skills
Throughout this blog we have outlined the importance of why investing in yourself is your greatest asset. The actual process of self development and improvement will help you sharpen your skills in an ever increasingly competitive environment.

The business world or the job market are intensely competitive and no longer can a university degree or a few years experience in a relevant field make you stand out from others. However, developing as an individual will give you the opportunity to sharpen your skills and refine the processes or methods that will help you succeed.

For example, if you are running a business that focuses on helping your clients with digital marketing, it is important to have an understanding of the different digital marketing disciplines so you can communicate effectively with your clients.

Competitive advantage
The final element we wanted to address during this week's blog was how investing in yourself can actually give you a competitive advantage within your industry. For instance, by identifying key areas to focus on developing, you can actually gain a competitive advantage.

This is because most people don’t actually look to invest in their futures by developing their skills and settle into a familiar or comfortable routine. By doing what the minority of people do instead of the majority, you can actually ensure that your business and/or skills have a competitive edge over others.

Summary
The commitment to invest in yourself is something that is not widely considered when we set objectives and develop a strategy to become more successful. However, by investing in yourself and making a commitment to learning new skills you can give yourself the best chance to succeed.

The biggest determinant of your overall results is yourself. Whether you are an employee or a business owner, constantly trying to improve and developing new skills will serve you well in the long run.

As we have seen throughout this week’s blog, there are a number of ways that you can invest in yourself. While some methods will be more advantageous than others, depending on your situation, the key thing to remember is that investing in yourself is your greatest asset.

Here at iOB Business, we help people just like you develop their own Digital Agencies and help local businesses improve their online presence. A key component of how we achieve this is through our structured 2 day training programme as well as our Learn Centre that is focused on our partners continuous professional development with additional online training videos.

To find out more about how we help our partners develop and also our Digital Agency business opportunity, please contact a member of our team.

Until next time, take care.