All over the internet and on television there are investment companies promising great returns on your investments. Friends in social setting will often ask each other how their investments are doing and trade strategies on this stock or that mutual fund. People certainly spend a good deal of time and effort tending to their money while a much more valuable asset goes unattended: themselves.
Do not get me wrong. Wise money management is not wasted and money itself is obviously valuable because it represents our time and effort. What I simply wish to speak to is the matter of time itself. Realistically, we each are allotted a finite amount of time on this wondrous planet. To ignore the reality of our eventual death is foolish. Likewise, we are given one body in which to make this journey and one mind to navigate its course.
Like money we can chose to spend or invest our precious time on various pursuits. We carefully chose to invest in property and various assets. Since we deem these items valuable we spend time tending, maintaining and repairing them. Yet our most precious properties are arguably our bodies, minds and spirits. Yet these appear to be our society’s most neglected assets.
We can purchase new houses, cars and other valuables, but our bodies and minds are irreplaceable. The sad reality is that they come to us for free and as such we place little value on them. We take them for granted. I cannot say this better than Earl Nightingale did in his wise discourse “The Strangest Secret”:
“The problem is that our mind comes as standard equipment at birth. It’s free. And things that are given to us for nothing, we place little value on. Things that we pay money for, we value.
The paradox is that exactly the reverse is true. Everything that’s really worthwhile in life came to us free — our minds, our souls, our bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our love of family and children and friends and country. All these priceless possessions are free.”
If you accept this premise then you should seriously consider how you are tending your greatest asset: yourself. You may well wonder how it is that you could invest in yourself.
Clearly your body is the most obvious treasure that you can nurture in meaningful ways. It is your responsibility to give your body proper amounts of good food, keep it sufficiently active and provide it with adequate rest. Many of us fail here on various levels. As with any responsibility the key to improvement is to make no excuses and to take action to learn control of our food, activity and rest. Be honest with yourself; set and work on the proper goals for one’s health.
It seems to me that mankind’s most neglected assets in our modern age is our minds and our spirits. This time is filled with the most marvelous entertainments and distractions. The problem is that these marvels are literally disconnecting us from our very lives. We often spend an inordinate number of hours watching and reading about what amounts to other people’s lives rather than attending to our own.
Our spirits crave real physical connections with our surroundings and our society and we feed them with anemic virtual online relationships. Psychologists have done studies around the healthy need for physical connections. One such study showed that the simple friendly act of hugging has tremendous health effects on people including lowering average heart rate. Countless different scientific reviews have discovered incredible benefits for families who regularly eat together. There are many simple things that we can do to feed our spirits and enrich our lives if we are willing to routinely break from our virtual enticements.
Not everyone is an intellectual but everyone should be learning and growing from day to day. However, how many of us actually spend the needed time it takes to expand our minds or to learn new skills and to grow as people? It is good to have hobbies that you pursue with a passion. When you can’t take time to read books on self-improvement you could listen to audio books and podcasts that challenge your mind and our spirit to grow.
We humans are innately creative in an infinite number of ways. Yet so few of us are willing to sit quietly with ourselves to ponder some of our significant concerns in a creative manner.
I challenge you to pick one issue in your life and let your mind simply freely create answers. Write down whatever comes to mind no matter how absurd it may sound. Do this for five to ten minutes or longer. Once finished, let if go until you have another quiet time to look at your answers. In that time pick one answer that you think you can work with and then let your creative mind loose on ways to achieve that solution. Keep going until you find actions that you can start working on and then turn those into goals. It is that simple but many do not find it easy.
I have provided only a few easy examples as to how you could begin investing in yourself. There are many, many different ways to do this. Find some that suit you in particular. To this end I will provide a list of some very good reverences below. Look at how you are literally spending your life. A few minutes invested on yourself daily may be all you need to gain confidence in yourself and realize that some of your dreams are not too late or too far. I guarantee that if you make some regular dates with yourself to care for your body, mind and spirit that the investment will pay you back with amazing dividends!!
So now that I have explained myself, I ask you “How are your investments paying?”!!
Body Resources:
Better physical health and improved activity (site and the associated smartphone apps)
Website: http://www.loseit.com
You will also find some encouragement too!
To improve your mental and/or physical health
This is a site that turns health into fun gameplay.
Mind and Spirit Resources:
Books & Authors:
Journey of learning and self-discovery
“Way of the Peaceful Warrior” by Dan Millman
Motivation and self-improvement
“The Strangest Secret” by Earl Nightingale
Also recommend Earl Nightingales other books such as “Lead The Field”
Working with others and self-improvement
“How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie
Like Earl Nightingale, Dale Carnegie has a wealth of knowledge so consider also his other books such as “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living”
Understanding communication and being a better communicator
“What Every Body Is Saying” by Joe Navarro
Podcasts and Blogs:
Inspiration and Innovations (videos and podcasts)
TED Talks
Watch and listen to inspiring people and ideas. TED – Ideas worth spreading!
Coaching, self-improvement and motivation (website/blog/podcast)
“Make Your Someday Today”” by Trevor LaRene
An excellent resource for the person trying to figure out how to realize their goals!
Innovation, entrepreneurship & self-improvement (website/blog/podcast)
“Inspiring Innovation” by Meron Bareket
An amazing fellow who continues to help others with his blogs, podcasts and workshops.
Entrepreneurship, motivation & self-improvement (website/blog/podcast)
“Entrepreneur on Fire” by John Lee Dumas
An awesome place to find ideas about just about every form for business enterprise!
Time management and entrepreneurship (website/blog/podcast)
“Time Hackers” by Julie Sheranosher
If you need more time then Julie can help you find it… and more!
Classic Texts (available free across the Internet)
“The Art of War” by Sun Tzu
Understanding the art of managing conflict.
“Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tsu
“The Way of Power” – Learn the principles of the martial art of life!
“The Bible” by YHWH
Read it again for the first time!!!
