The last few weeks we have been covering how to overcome the challenging times we have been experiencing in the current economics time. With the Dow Jones down 40% to 50%, it makes you wonder why the heck you did that buy and hold thing. If the stock market is headed down, is there any hope for the little guy.
Investing In Your Best Asset
With everything coming crashing down, what can you do to get a great return on investment. The last few posts have focused in on investing in your health. This is always a great investment because if you are not healthy, you can’t generate cash flow and your retirement will be not as enjoyable. Who wants to retire due to health reasons?
Beside investing in your health, another great investment that you can get a great return is your education. What the heck do you mean, Dave? I already went to college and have been working for the last 20 years. Why should I investment in my education?
Green & Growing or Ripe & Rotting
This is an old saying I heard over 30 years ago. You are either green and growing or ripe and rotting. This is a great word picture for you to visualize. If you stop learning, you will be left behind in whatever your field of interest or work is at what may appear to be the speed of light. With the information age upon us, you just have to be in a constant state of learning.
The challenge is that most people don’t want to make this investment. They would rather sit in front of their television and let the news media fill their minds with the media’s version of the truth. They learn how to not think for themselves and become drones for someone else.
Become A Free Thinker
Let me give you an inside secret. No company really wants a “me too” thinker. The people who are willing to invest in themselves and learn how to think outside the box are the ones who will get paid very well for what they do. Those who are up beat and willing to dig in and make things happen are highly sought after. The reason for this is that these type of people are not that common.
The majority of the people don’t want to make the extra effort and are willing to just get by and hope everything turns out okay for them. The challenge is that when you do this, you become a commodity. You are no different than the next person who works for a company. You are highly replaceable for someone new out of college, tech school, or high school depending on the type of work you do.
Become An Avid Reader
Reading will make a major difference in your life. Of course, it may sound expensive, but remember that there are things called libraries that offer free books. I came across a study about ten years ago which stated that 50% of all high school graduates have never read a book cover to cover since they graduated from high school. Seventy three percent of all Americans have never been in a book store in the last 5 years. And the most disturbing of all is that only about 3% of all Americans have a library card so that they can borrow books for free. Is it any wonder why people are drones? No one seems to want to take the time to invest in them selves.
Becoming The Expert
The interesting thing is that if you just spent about an hour a day for the next six months studying any topic, you would become a knowledgeable expert in that field. You may think it will take many years to develop skills, but highly focused reading can make a big difference.
Next time we want to take a look at what you can do with this newly gained knowledge. Post your thoughts on what you think is a great investment.
Until Next Time…