Investing In Yourself
One of the things that has separated me from a number of my peers is the sheer amount of professional development that I’ve done over the past 10 years. I’ve spent $30-40,000 in courses, weekends, boot camps, books, CD’s, and webinars. And to be quite honest, that is a drop in the bucket compared to what some of my friends spend.
(I know one very entrepreneurial couple that will spend $100k this year alone in professional education!)
What amazes me is meeting people who question how much they’ll spend on a weekend training program or CD set. Spend is the operative word. What they’ll spend is a fraction of what they’ll learn and eventually earn using the information they obtained. That’s why I never perceive professional development an expense, but an investment. It’s an investment in me. And from past experience, an investment in me pays way better than an investment in the stock market, real estate, or going out on the town with friends.
Let me suggest this… if you are someone that claims you don’t have enough money to do something that could radically change your world, then your not having enough money is only part of the problem. The rest of the problem is you don’t have the right mindset.
Money is a very infinite thing. There is an infinite amount of money in society today. Trillions of dollars are flowing around the world right now as you read this. And yet, for most people, what their online balance shows them is what they gauge their having money on.
What if the money were around to do whatever you like?
Consider the fact that most Universities have a student activity fund that is funded by students at the rate of $50-75 a semester. Take the average state university of 15,000 students and multiply that times $100 ($50 x 2 semesters). The answer is $1.5M. One million five hundred thousand dollars will buy a heck of a lot of bands, hypnotists, balloons, pizza, speakers, and oh yeah, tickets and transportation to professional development events you’d like to attend.
Maybe the money you’re spending on professional development doesn’t have to be yours. Ever considered asking your University (the Dean, Campus Activities, Student Life, etc.) if there are funds available to attend a conference that will help you Succeed Faster? Dozens of students have done it in the past with incredible results.
Karan Ahuja got his entire Succeed Faster attendance covered by Purdue University. So did Nick Rizzi at the University of Denver. Jocelyn Paonita had me write a letter for her and it secured her $800 for the event. These are just a few of the myriad of students that got their professional education paid for.
So my question is… are you thinking about your own wallet when making a decision that could effect the rest of your life? Or, can you adopt the Succeed Faster mindset which says that if you ask, you might just receive. And if you ask with the right method and support behind you, you’re just about guaranteed to get it!
If you’re interested in attending a Succeed Faster event, but don’t have the cash, shoot me an email and let me know that you’re interested in getting a letter that you can take to the University. I’m happy to help you Succeed Faster!
