I want to get real here in this post and expose a side to most people’s nature that is so automatic but really doesn’t make sense when you look at what is actually going on.
The majority of people I speak to on a weekly basis, whether it be people enquiring to work with me or random people sharing their wellbeing struggles, are so resistant to prioritise spending money on their personal growth!
Yet, when you dig a little deeper, they’re typically quite open to dropping sizeable amounts of money on things like designer handbags, jewellery, clothes, shoes, home and kitchen accessories, sports equipment, holidays, cosmetics and procedures, home improvements, fancy meals, concert tickets … you name it.
But they clam up at the idea of spending a decent amount of money on their mental, physical and/or emotional health.
And this is all despite the fact they may be really struggling with their weight, health, skin, digestion, stress, anxiety, confidence, energy, sleep, relationships, finances etc and in ways that literally affect every aspect of their life!
Now doesn’t that seem a little crazy?
A person is struggling with an issue that could be affecting their whole life experience and yet they give more priority to, for example, their Summer holiday – even though this particular person may be dealing with chronic anxiety, or OCD to the point where they often struggle to leave the house on time and then the knock-on effect is that this causes major stress and guilt because they’re always a little late for work and arrive feeling a bit of a mess and go into the day wired on stress hormones.
That’s just one example out of so many scenarios I’ve heard of.
So, let’s say they continue to spend another year of their life dealing with these issues – which in turn could be affecting their chances of promotion at work, their relationship with their significant other, their health (as we all know chronic stress leads to health-related issues, it can’t not)… But their priority is saving for their expensive Summer holiday.
Does this seem a little counterintuitive to you?
The truth is, you only get one life and in the case of the example above, they can’t get that additional year of stress, fear, and anxiety back.
Not to mention what could happen if they did choose to invest in themselves. If they resolved their OCD and subsequent lateness and stress, which in turn meant they were far more focussed and proactive at work potentially leading to a better bonus or promotion … and that bonus or promotion could have more than paid for the investment in their growth, never-mind improve their overall quality of life!
What many people fail to see is that this isn’t about ‘spending’ money on yourself – it’s an investment. And your return on that investment is not only priceless but potentially life-changing, on many fundamental levels.
You don’t just resolve the issue(s), you learn so much about yourself in the process that you quite literally ‘up-level’ … You learn how to get out of your own way, how to be a better person, to feel better, to perform better in your chosen field and to live your best life.
And these things can never be taken away … you can’t unlearn self-awareness.
So, my motive in sharing this is to open your mind to investing in yourself.
I will admit it took me a while to come to this way of thinking. I really hesitated around spending £170 on my first motivational course about 12 years ago and yet now I look back at what I’ve spent over the years and that £170 seems like absolutely nothing!
That’s not to say I don’t appreciate that people are on different levels of income, however, I also know that when you look at what a person is spending their money on, you’ll often find a way to get the money by removing things that are actually far less important.
My perspective here is based on my personal experience of working on myself, the transformations I’ve witnessed in clients and also some friends who have invested in their evolution. I’m hugely passionate about standing up for the person who is struggling yet unaware of how important doing ‘the work’ is.
What I want to impress, is that if there’s an area in your life where you know you’re struggling, or holding yourself back, or maybe you can sense there’s potential for so much more, don’t delay doing something about it. You will not regret it.
“The best investment you can make is in yourself because
it will pay you back for the rest of your life”
Robin Sharma
If you want to do better, be better, have better in any way, I highly recommend that you invest in someone or something that can help you get there.
This could be anything from podcasts or books on the topic to courses or coaching but make your own personal growth one of your top priorities.
You can’t get a better return on your investment than on yourself, your quality of life and your potential!
Kate x
