Invest In Yourself: It Pays Dividends

Accelerating your success does not always require huge increases in effort, time or money. Brian Tracy uses a great analogy to make this point. In a horse race, the first place horse might earn $100,000 while the second-place horse might earn $50,000. The first horse got twice the money not because it ran twice as fast as the competition. It only had to be a nose ahead.

So what can you do personally to create distance between you and your competitors or improve your results and income? The answer is simple – invest in yourself by learning new things and developing new skills. As Ben Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” It also translates into higher earnings and income. And it doesn’t require a lot of time or money – just a commitment to personal growth and passion for success.

Reading: A Competitive Advantage

Consider the fact that the average person reads 12 books in a lifetime. While this is a sad statistic, it clearly demonstrates an opportunity! According to Dr. Donald E. Wetmore, if the average person read for just 15 minutes per day, they would read 12 books per year and well over 600 books in their lifetime. Talk about a competitive advantage – and for just 15 minutes per day!

If you spend a lot of time on the road, invest in audio books and turn your car into a learning center. Today, most of the best-selling business and personal development books are available on CD or audio download. They are also available for Kindle or other readers — so you can always have a book handy while on the road! Don’t feel a need to listen or read them once. I’m always finding new ideas from books I’ve read or listened to previously.

Want to maximize your learning while leveraging your time? Here are a few tips you might want to consider. First, invest in an executive book summary subscription. The summary provides a recap and key ideas contained in the book – without reading the entire book. Busy executives and professionals use these to stay abreast of changes and develop new ideas – you can too! Second, join a book club and gather with others to discuss and learn. Some professional organizations offer these as a member benefit.

Do you learn more effectively with the help of others? If so, attend interactive workshops, seminars or webinars to improve knowledge gaps or simply to get new ideas. If you can take away and implement just one new idea in your business, you’ll find the results will amaze you.

Finally, make an effort to meet and build relationships with other successful business owners – inside and outside your own industry. Sharing information is a great way for both of you to learn and improve your businesses. Whether you do this with a group or one-on-one, make spending time with other successful owners part of your personal development plan. A word of caution here. Surround yourself with owners who have a similar passion for success. Avoid those who constantly play the role of victim since they will simply pull you down.

In conclusion, learning new ideas and ways to do things better is one of the keys to success. But at the end of the day, you must take action or do something with what you learned in order to impact results. Remember, the only difference between YOUR income and lifestyle now and in five years will be the people you meet, the knowledge you build and the actions you take – applying what you learn. So start investing in yourself and you too will reap the rewards.