In this post, I'm sharing a quick story about my adventures in investing in myself and my business.
Early last year, I convinced my husband (who is my financial partner with whom I discuss large purchase decisions) that I needed to invest in a $2400 training program for my business.
It was the largest educational investment that I had made in myself since attending graduate school over a decade earlier–and many of us know the perils of paying for a graduate degree! So needless to say, this financial decision was a scary one!
Without getting into too many details, let me just say that while I did learn some pretty good information from the course, I found it to be far less helpful than I was anticipating.
So, for a while, I kind of felt like I had partially wasted $2400 of our money and it really discouraged me from making any other large investments.
But then I got to thinking about the $30,000 graduate degree that I invested in (and that I am still paying off). That's right. I have a $30,000 graduate degree that I haven't put to good use in a decade, mostly because I diverted to a completely different industry when I moved from the Midwest to the Southeast after I got married.
Related Content: Have You Seen My Sexy? A book for any woman who's ever lost herself.
So, I started to compare the two investments.
The Comparison
On one hand, I paid $2400 for access to a training program that even while it didn't fully meet my expectations, it did bring me a few steps closer to creating the path of financial freedom that I envision for my family.
Also, that $2400 investment is completely paid in full and I can continue to access the information and apply it to my business as I please.
Compared to my $30,000 graduate school investment, $2400 dollars is a drop in the bucket!
With the graduate school investment, even if I would have stayed on that career path, I would have eventually hit the glass ceiling with a salary cap.
With the online business program investment, at the very least, my income opportunity is endless. My monetary efforts are totally tied to my own work efforts and ability to drive traffic and sales to my business. HUGE DIFFERENCE.
In December, I found myself at the crossroads of another financial decision to invest in a training program to help me grow my business.
I could feel the paralyzing uncertainty of past investments rising up inside of me trying to scare me into INACTION.
A little voice whispered…
Save your money.
Don't be a risk taker.
Be logical.
But then a larger, more authoritative voice bellowed…
Scared money don't make money!
Investing in yourself is a stepping stone to success!
Significant progress requires a certain level of risk-taking!
So, I decided to listen to the voice encouraging me to invest in myself and my business.
The New Investment
I decided that this new opportunity–at about 1/5 of the cost of my previous training program–was an investment of my time and money that I would be foolish not to take advantage of.
The new training program that I will start this month is Elite Blog Academy. It's offered once per year (I've included the link for the waitlist) and has been taken by over 3,000 bloggers.
It's run by a mompreneur named Ruth Soukup who started out as a shopaholic who ended up starting a blog to get her money-spending tendencies in check. Ruth now runs a 7-figure business.
Are You Brave Enough to Invest in Yourself This Year?
My hope is that you are inspired by my story and that you start to think of ways you can invest in yourself and your business this year.
It may be a different type of investment such as hiring a life coach, or attending a business seminar, or going on a self-care retreat.
The point is to take action, push past the fear you may be experiencing, and go after the kind of life/business you desire.
The one thing I know for sure is that INACTION is a recipe for disaster and it's the fastest way to remaining stuck where you are.
Sometimes, you just need to take a leap of faith, believe in yourself, and invest. Admittedly, maybe not a $30,000 investment lol, but an investment in which the possible ROI is clear and promising.
If you are interested in investing in your online business (or starting one if you haven't yet), take a look at a free video series called Blogging Made Simple.
Your Risk-Taking, Cheer-Leading, Mompreneur Buddy,
Kari
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