Success Technologies
And how much is enough?
Invest In Yourself
A few words on investing in your growth and the
quality of your life…
My buddy Perry Marshall recently asked his readers a question about
investing in themselves. And, it really got me thinking.
How much do you invest each month in yourself?
In learning the things that you need to take your business and
marketing to the next level of success and profitability?
In building the type of business or professional
practice that you really want?
And, in keeping yourself healthy, happy,
relaxed and fit?
You have to actually invest in all of them as it turns out, or
you become hopelessly out of balance and none of the areas of
your life are optimal.
And to “make matter worse” you have to usually invest time,
money and other resources. Turns out your Mom was wrong.
If you do it right you can buy happiness – the payments just not
ALL in money.
Most of us don’t spend enough and for that reason we get stuck
in one place. Often, we spend money experimenting, testing,
“trying different things” in our business and in our lives.
But there are lost opportunities there. What if you could find an expert,
a mentor, or a source of high quality information and cut that whole
period of trial and error short so that you started getting greater
levels of success (however you define it) earlier and more often and more
powerfully…what would that be worth?
When I got to law school, I soon discovered that I could probably learn
the important things through trial and error but it went waaaay faster
learning them from some of the top legal minds in the nation. Learning from
masters was a short cut to success.
But here’s the thing that I found and that Perry found: The better stuff, programs,
seminars, classes (or schools) cost more than the general pablum out there.
Often they cost 2 or 3 times more. But they work. You’re learning the very best
from the very best who take their knowledge and their teaching very seriously.
The crappy seminars, books, programs, courses, and materials never worked.
They contained the same old advice. They were general, often too simple, and
frequently useless. Nothing changed and the investment was a waste.
BUT…great mentors, teachers, seminars, programs, and content can get you
massive results much earlier than the books, tapes, dvds, programs and courses
that seem cheaper but are full of general and useless information.
In the end, the good stuff is way cheaper. This applies to trainers at the gym,
business mentors, coaches and consultants. And to great materials by proven
experts and teachers who get it done AND can teach you to do the same.
So today as I was talking about this people kept asking me “How much do you spend?”
It’s a big number, I spend to develop myself in many different areas, and it goes up the
bigger and more successful my businesses and practice become.
Why does it cost more? Haven’t I “learner enough?” why keep spending? Am I
a slow learner? No.
But, fewer and fewer people know more about the most important things
and the things I value than I do AND for that reason alone they can charge way
more for this high value knowledge. And guess what? The money I spent last
year made me able to pay for even better self development this year.
It’s a “vicious upward spiral of success.”
Now that doesn’t mean that I don’t have set backs. I do.
It doesn’t mean I always make more. Well I usually do but I often reinvest it
in my business, my team and in my family.
And let’s not overlook that.
I am advocating spending on yourself and those around you.
I am advocating spending on the business and personal aspects of your life.
The quality of your life is better when you’re giving to others, sharing with
loved ones and staying relaxed healty and fit. Clearly I can do better in
some of these areas but who else has taken a month to six weeks with the
kids to travel the world and the United States each year?
Yes I’m blessed but I made the “lucky” part by investing in myself and those
around me.
So how much? There’s no single answer but you need to stretch.
Stop spending on the same old stuff. Save up and get something at the
next level that tells you not just what to do but how to do it.
Even when I was a struggling young entrepreneur and lawyer I spent
a few hundred dollars a month (on average) going to programs, and buying
books and materials.
So where do you go to get this “training?
Get it from someone who has been successful in the area where you seek to
succeed. The spend will probably hurt a bit. But that makes it more likely
that you’ll act on the advice and information (or you’ll seem silly even to yourself).
Now if you like what I do and you want to take things to the next level, while
taming the chaos, consider my fall mastermind in Phoenix
http://www.3DaysToSuccess.com/ and if you want to learn more about starting
an information marketing business with the knowledge you’ve already developed
then come and learn from Mike Capuzzi and me at our upcoming events.
So visit the site or call Lisa at 610-933-8069.
If you’re a do it yourselfer and want the course I spent hundreds of thousands of
dollars learning and developing on the language patterns of persuasion and influence
then visit http://www.persuasion2profit.com/
Follow me on Facebook and Twitter as well.
Thanks! Be well and stay cool.
Dave