Interested?

A few months ago as we were preparing to head out for a morning walk, my husband started offering me a gadget to assist me. He then said, "If you are going to be doing this, you need to invest in some things." I fully agree(d) with him.

As we walked, the thought that crossed my mind was "Interest inspires investment!"
It has been said over and over again that we need to invest in ourselves...and it is a neccesity. In my experience, I've found that people do not really know "why" they should invest in themselves. The way I see it, if you are truly interested in yourself - and want to improve and achieve greater things, you would invest in yourself.  Now, "how" you can and should invest in yourself is a very different topic which I have and continue to cover on this blog and on Diamond - and you can subscribe for both.

On the flip side, "Investment induces interest". When you invest in yourself, you differentiate yourself and "attract attention". I am yet to meet a manager, leader or company that actively seeks to recruit and/or retain mediocre people. If and when they do, some investment takes place. Consider  the example of  Next Jump Simon Sinek used in his book "Leaders eat last". He said that Next Jump has a Lifetime Employment Policy - essentially "a Next Jumper doesn't get fired, they get coached." So if they happened to recruit mediocre people, they invest in them to retain them.

Extending that to yourself, when you invest in yourself and continuously improve, you will make others interested in you. It follows the cause and effect process. When we invest our money, we expect interest as evidence of appreciation in our investment. Employers expect the same.   

When that externally-generated interest, aligns with your internally-generated interest in yourself, you will invest in yourself and the cycle continues: Interest inspires investment -> Investment induces interest -> Interest inspires investment...

The great thing about this cycle is that as you take action, you attract attention and assistance (see my other piece: Action attracts attention). Touching a bit on "how" you can get this cycle started, if you are truly interested in yourself, invest in a coach...

Interested?