"Invest in yourself to the point that it makes someone else want to invest in you."
-Anonymous
If you refuse to make the sacrifice of investing in yourself, who will? No one. You are the only one who will invest in you.
You must make choices and invest in yourself based on the future you are creating versus where you currently are. What appears to be a huge sacrifice today will eventually turn out to be the greatest investment you could have made for tomorrow. It takes guts. It requires the ability to see the bigger picture because if you don't believe in your vision, nobody will.
The concept of feeling that you deserve a certain amount of money all comes down to self worth and believing in you. What you want in life is never really about the money; the money is just a means for getting what you want.
Three years ago, I decided to become an expert in my field and start my own business, and I faced the predicament of holding on to what I had versus taking the risk of investing in myself. When I looked into hiring my first high-level coach, he charged $1400/month. While the price was genuinely appropriate for his services, I really struggled about whether or not to hire him. Even for such an amazing coach, I did not have the disposable income in my budget to manage that large of an added expense. Finding myself at a loss for what to do, I tried to negotiate the price with him, but he didn't buy into my story.
I was stuck on the fence until I realized something very significant--it wasn't actually about the money! I was hiring this man because I wanted to be a full time coach and because I wanted him to be the means for breaking up the story that I wasn't good enough to succeed as a coach. I knew that this breakthrough wasn't going to come through finding a cheaper coach and hiring someone who wasn't going to be a means to my success.
In reality, this transformation was only going to happen through someone challenging me not only to invest in someone else but more importantly to invest in ME. When I hired him, it was an affirmation that I actually could do it, that I did have what it takes, and that I could believe in myself enough to succeed as a full time coach.
After making the decision to hire him, I knew I was that committed to succeeding. I didn't know how it was going to happen, but I went out and made the money work in that first month. And it happened!
This is just one small example that shows how we get to choose whether or not we believe the stories that keep us feeling small and trapped right where we are. We can make choices that align with what we are committed to even when at first these choices seem impossible. The point where we stop believing the word "impossible" is where we begin investing in our own self.
Even though we are talking about money in this example, investing in you applies to every aspect of life. Be aware of and listen to your needs, practice consistent self-care, be part of a supportive community, read books, learn continually, try new things, be smart about your budget, let your default disposition be to believe in yourself before being an expert, the list goes on...
Fear of the unknown can hold you back. Fear of not having all the answers can hold you back. Wanting instant gratification and perfectionism can hold you back.
Don't let it happen to you. In the wise words of Mark Twain, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover."
Catherine A. Wood is the Founder and Head Coach of Unbounded Potential, a personal coaching firm dedicated to helping high performance individuals who are committed to making a big impact in the world. A visionary, entrepreneur and world traveler, clients have referred to her as a guardian angel for their dreams. You can learn more about Catherine and what she offers by visiting her Online, on Instagram, on Facebook, or by signing up for her newsletter and grabbing her Unbounded Potential manifesto.