Why Investing in Yourself is Self Care

Some people get really confused when I talk about investing as a form of self care.

For most people, they hear about investing, and they think money. They think about putting their money into stocks, or backing a business, or something that involves throwing money at something.

Even if you see how investing can be used as a self care tool, you may even think that investing is solely spending a bunch of money in order to receive the benefit from that thing. This is true, partly. There is actually so much more to investing than that.

We are going to talk about investing in YOURSELF in this article. Not investing in stocks or businesses or people, but investing in yourself and what YOU need.

Investing in yourself is simply doing something for yourself to give yourself a little more attention.

It can be something small, like listening to your favourite song when you're sad. It can be something big, like purchasing a gym membership.

What these two things have in common is that they will both contribute to your wellbeing and do something to improve your life, even if just momentarily.

An investment doesn't have to be big and luxurious for it to be a worthy investment. However, it does have to make sense. Spending your whole paycheque on alcohol in order to get smashed is not a worthy investment. Buying a bottle of wine to celebrate a hard week can be.

Investing in yourself is so important because of the sheer amount of time that we spend trying to please others and make them happy. We want to see others be their best, but when are we going to give ourselves the same dedication and focus?

It's almost as if you need to see yourself from outside of yourself. Is this person getting enough care?

If you're still confused about investing, you're overcomplicating it. This type of investing is about self care and healing, not a return of investment (even though I get one every time).

Investing in yourself is such a crucial step in creating a life worth living for yourself, because it's just for you. The more you practice doing things for YOU, the better you'll feel from all the work you're putting into yourself. Not to mention that the universe will want to reward you a whole lot more.

There are three different ways to invest in yourself: with time, with money, and with energy.

Investing in Yourself with Money

Investing in yourself with money is self-explanatory.

It's literally about purchasing things that will contribute to your growth and self-development:

• Purchasing a coffee at Starbucks every Thursday, because it allows you the ability to sit in a new space and work for a little bit every week. This would give you a change of scenery, and possibly inspiration.
• Purchasing a meal delivery service, because it allows you to cook healthier meals and feel better about what you're putting into your body. Not to mention, no more last minute fast food dinners that just drain your pockets!
• Purchasing a ticket to a live workshop on a topic that you find interesting and enlightening, because it allows you to learn something new and possibly gain a new skill or perspective. It's obvious how these can help you in your life.

The thing is, you will always receive a reward for your investment, and it will always be more than what you put in.

The first time I invested money in a program after starting my business, I got three new clients.

I spent $100 and ended up making about $250. This means that my return of investment was over $100 (which is what I put into the program in the first place).

So did I receive these three clients because of the skills and experience that I learned in the program? Yes, probably. However, I like to think that it was the universe rewarding me for investing in myself.

Investing in Yourself with Time

Time is purely time.

Investing in yourself with time is the sitting through, the experiencing. Not necessarily the "doing" part.

When I invested my time, I received so much knowledge and inspiration. I was then inspired to invest in more things using my money and energy.

Investing with time would seem like it's the easiest because it doesn't require much, but it involves allowing yourself to be present and open.

To invest my time, I started listening to Rachel Gibler's podcast, It's Fucking Spiritual. This podcast not only inspired me to go for my life coaching certification, but then it inspired me to invest money into the $100 program that brought me three clients.

All it took was listening and being open to receiving.

Investing in Yourself with Energy

I would say that investing your energy is the hardest part of investing in yourself.

Investing your energy means that you commit to trying and doing.

This is more than listening to podcasts. This is listening to these podcasts and taking notes, looking to learn something tangible from what you're listening to.

When I started listening to Simone Seol's podcast Joyful Marketing and taking notes, I was inspired to make changes in my program. This ultimately changed the whole direction of my business for the better.

I guess you could say that without investing my energy, I wouldn't be where I am today.

Investing your energy is taking the time to go to therapy, taking the time to do the shadow work and the trauma work, and taking the time to do your self care.

That's what investing with energy is all about - doing.

Want to Learn More?

If you want to dive more into investing, tune into the Intention / Investion / Intention live workshop.

This is a FREE live event that will take place over @happilymander's Instagram live on Thursday April 13 2023 at 7:00 PM EST.

Not only will we cover investing in yourself, but also setting intentions and inventing our realities through manifestation.

The point of this workshop is to help you recenter, recalibrate, and more effectively give back to yourself.

There will be opportunities to participate in the live and do reflecting, and you will walk away with THREE tangibles (that is, if you do the work during the workshop).

There are no pre-requisites to join. Just show up.

The journey to self-discovery starts with you taking care of you.