„For the best return on your money, pour your purse into your head.“ ~ Benjamin Franklin
I’m a strong believer that personal development is the best investment you could ever make.
The reason is really simple.
Improving yourself proactively, working on your awareness, improving your skills and knowledge about how you can get to the edge of your potential, all of that is an investment into the greatest asset you’ll always have: Yourself.
I know from my own experience that this is true.
And I know it from the fact that almost every financially successful person started out with a transformation to become the person who is then able to achieve that kind of success.
Personal development comes first, financial success follows. [Tweet this!]
It’s not the other way around.
How People Started Who „Made it“ Financially
For instance Jeff Walker, a guy who I had the privilege getting to know last year is now famously known as the $400 million dollar man (yes, that’s $400,000,000; source: Forbes).
In one of his product launches he actually had a million dollar hour (making $1MM in 1 hour).
When he told his story in one of his videos the underlying message of him starting out with personal development didn’t surprise me at all. In this blog post he says:
„One of the big reasons I’m where I’m at today is because about 15 years ago, after watching the infomercial over and over…
At the time my life was totally flat lining – I wasn’t going anywhere, and I had no prospects. And I had almost no money whatsoever. Spending that $129 was a HUGE decision.
But, like I said… I suspended my disbelief, and I went ahead and picked up the phone and ordered the product. As soon as the product came, I tore into it. I followed every single step…
I was desperate to change my life…
And that was the start of everything… my life went from flat lining onto a trajectory that I still have a hard time believing. I can easily trace everything back to buying that course and going through it.“
Another great example is a person named Brendon Burchard, who was in a car accident, which was the one event making him think about his „miserable life“ (as he called it).
He got inspired, went into a cycle of personal development and reshaping his life, and went on to create 4 different multi-million dollar products, one per year!
The Best Investment You Could Ever Make
I personally went through a cycle of several years running an internet company that wasn’t making me a lot of money at that time. But what happened during that time was much more important.
I started actively looking into personal development, developed my mindset, my goal-setting ability, my time-management… and when I started my new venture, after less than 6 month I was making $123,000 in a week!
Of course, you also have to understand what you are doing to earn that kind of money. But that’s only looking at one side of the coin. The other, and more important side is to grow internally first. And then reap the benefits.
So my message is simple but profound: Invest into yourself first. [Tweet this!]
This is something I strongly believe in. You have to learn these personal techniques that take you forward.
Invest into your own personal development and master yourself and your mind.
Build a strong mindset, discover your purpose in life and learn to tap into your passion. Build a powerful vision and learn to set goals and take action on them. Learn to focus your mind effectively and learn the foundation of time-management and productivity. And then act on it.
This will pay off! Big time.
Seriously speaking I cant thank you enough.. But I am really really thankful, grateful and I owe this realization to you. I’ve totally accepted my life and I take whole of its responsibility. I will get better and better now.. Thanks a ton.. Again!
Best article I have ever come across ! Thank you Myrko for inspiration
your blog is the best and most inspiring blog i have come across!!! Keep sharing your insights into various fields especially spirituality!! its wonderful to read and believe me i have seen changes in my life!!!!
Thanks so much shikha.
Great Zack, thanks. Yes twins, two girls. More here: http://www.myrkothum.com/life-advice/ :)
Yeah, so I’m just in the process of filming the second video. Will stay interesting, I promise.
Great start with the video Myrko, which by the way you said your name so fast I couldn’t catch how you pronounced it. I couldn’t comment directly under because I am not on those sites.
Any rate, that was a familiar concept (truth always is) with original style and organization carried by a clear and simple approach. I liked it, appreciate your effort and can’t wait to see how you develop it further.
By the way, congratulations on the kids! Twins?
Right Robert,
the inner and outer game has to become a match.
And it starts with the inner game.
Fantastic article and 100% spot on. “ The other, and more important side is to grow internally first“ – absolutely true. You can have your business plan, your marketing strategy… perfectly lined out, but if you don’t believe in yourself, if you don’t believe in your success, if you are scared by your goals… you won’t succeed.
If you take care of your „inner growth“ first, of course you still need to make plans and take action…, but meeting the right people, seizing great opportunities, having those amazing ideas and feeling the urge to act on them… happens naturally.
Whereas if you are trapped in a state of mind like: „anyway, this will never work…“, you simple won’t have those ideas, you won’t see those opportunities…, because you can only attract and experience on the outside what you first create within.
Chad, yes Balance is like the ultimate Goal in Life. Because it means to have achieved goals in every important life-area. I posted about this here as well:
– Is Finding Balance the Ultimate Answer to Everything?
– How to Create Balance in All Areas of Your Life
I would like to add that I try to focus on each aspect of my being when I’m setting goals. I think that’s incredibly important for focus. At the most basic levels, we can be thought to be based around four corners emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental (or intellectual). I think working on each quadrant is hugely important for balanced, overall growth. It also ensures that you don’t become one-dimensional.
Obviously monetary goals and more material goals may arise within these quadrants, but I like to keep it simple and break it down from those four aspects and work to grow in each every day.
Funny how you say that, because I think this is the missing link in personal development, a systematic „order“ that links the areas we can grow on together. I.e. there is purpose first, then vision, and then focus and productivity. If you mix that up, you create confusion at best, or lose a lot of time (and money).
Stay tuned for the first video that I will send via the email-list in the next days, as this is EXACTLY what the video is all about…
I think that was a near miss „and only then the specific skills“ because when I first read it I read „and then only the specific skills“ the flipping those two words makes all the difference. There are a million different skills but I don’t need to know how to juggle flaming hula hoops (although that would be cool) but I need those specific skills related to my „mindset, vision and purpose.“ I guess I just want o emphasize that because that has been a costly lesson to learn. My hands are scorched
Couldn’t have said it better @SJ Scott.
I find it incredible that when you trace back the success of almost every outstandingly successful person I know, you almost always find that they started with a cycle of self-improvement and investing into themselves to develop the right mindset.
Look at it, even the Beatles, or Michael Jordan, they all went through a trial and error and started to work on themselves intensively after their first „failures“. And that means usually: mindset, vision and purpose. And only then the specific skills.
This is so true. Many people are willing to spend money on small outside things that make them feel or look a little bit better but are unwilling to spend the money on improving themselves and gaining the tools and means of success for themselves.
Personal development is a tool that never dulls. Other things you buy can break or become passe, but when you invest in yourself it becomes something that can NEVER be taken away, and the upside can be incredible. (as your example shows)
-SJ
Yes Zack, I believe self-mastery is never REALLY passive. It may be silent and inside, but there are also times where it needs to be strong and external.
I like the more aggressive approach. Good change Myrko. I look forward to your videos as I’ve gotten lost in the thicket of everywhere needing improvement. I’ve tried the more passive „kind to self“ approach now for the last six months and I am kinder to others, sort of, but no better off internally. Thank you for your dedication.
Vincent, that’s true, there is a danger of losing yourself in improvement. Although I think that then there is a basic drive to get results missing.
Usually you would think that when you don’t create results and small successes for you, this would backfire on your mood. You just can’t cheat on yourself.
So I think our organism has a mechanism against that kind behavior, you just feel bad after some time of not making any progress. Of course you would have to notice the reason for it :-)
You can go wrong in many ways. But at the same time you can go right in many ways. Focus there. And action will follow effortlessly.
If you have the inner drive to make something out of your life, you want to see results. And that should always bring you to take action and create.
All in all, you want to act and improve at the same time, as in continuous improvement: You learn something new, you take action, you get results and feedback, then you adjust and start the cycle again.
The only warning I’d have to add in is to avoid the trap of reading without applying. A lot of people read and think they’re making progress, but it’s about reading then getting out to DO. Diving too much into personal development could actually paralyze you, if you let it.