Such a resonant read! Lifelong learner here, and self-investment has always been my default over bright shiny objects 😄 The one thing I’d add: life needs to be lived as well, and travel and lived experience are self-investment too. Broadening your perspective, seeing the world differently - that compounds in its own way.
Excellent article. I resonate with so much of this. "I know people making excellent money who will spend thousands escaping their life every year while treating growth like a high-risk financial decision." I used to be this way too, but realized that there is a difference between spending vs. investing, and sometimes the return comes in the form of character not just financially.
I really liked your through themes here JP. This spoke to me on two items specifically.
I've definitely never hesitated to invest my time and money in knowledge that betters myself or prepares me for something I want to experience. I'm actually prouder of some of the certifications I've gotten that supported my career changes than my original college degree.
An investment in yourself is always worthwhile!
I also believe very strongly in having those experiences. In fact, I'm very focused on this now. There were times my husband and I couldn't really afford to do something earlier on in our marriage and found a way anyway. Those are experiences we still talk about to this day, so they were worth every penny.
I think that’s the part a lot of people miss Melanie. Very few people frame experiences, learning or hard seasons as investments while they’re happening. But years later, those are usually the things still paying dividends. Some investments pay you back in ways a spreadsheet can’t track. And honestly, some of the best decisions my wife and I ever made probably failed the spreadsheet test at the time too. Funny how life works like that.
I think that’s exactly it, Ken. The older I get, the less interested I am in short-term ROI arguments and the more interested I am in what’s still standing ten or twenty years later.
Loved listening to your article this morning. What stood out for me most is its not the power that survives its the work. The idea that what I write and talk about on this here will continue inspires me even more to share the work I love to do 🥰
This is well written, well said. Brilliant
Thank you. I really appreciate your kind words.
Great points and well said! Maybe it is time for me to learn AI, or something else. Thanks.
Thank you John. Something tells me you already know what it is.
Experiences are worth the money. Whether Rome or a room of Achiever's you leave a different person because of the experience
Andrew, that's exactly it. You don't leave the same person. That's the investment.
And yet, the math inspires. Just keep going. Connecting things. Another good one here.
Appreciate the encouragement Carl. "The math inspires" I like that a lot.
Such a resonant read! Lifelong learner here, and self-investment has always been my default over bright shiny objects 😄 The one thing I’d add: life needs to be lived as well, and travel and lived experience are self-investment too. Broadening your perspective, seeing the world differently - that compounds in its own way.
Maryna, you're right. I'd take both every time. That is why we travel.
insightful — “failure in public felt more dangerous than regret in private”
Thank you. This took me a long time to be honest about.
Excellent article. I resonate with so much of this. "I know people making excellent money who will spend thousands escaping their life every year while treating growth like a high-risk financial decision." I used to be this way too, but realized that there is a difference between spending vs. investing, and sometimes the return comes in the form of character not just financially.
I really liked your through themes here JP. This spoke to me on two items specifically.
I've definitely never hesitated to invest my time and money in knowledge that betters myself or prepares me for something I want to experience. I'm actually prouder of some of the certifications I've gotten that supported my career changes than my original college degree.
An investment in yourself is always worthwhile!
I also believe very strongly in having those experiences. In fact, I'm very focused on this now. There were times my husband and I couldn't really afford to do something earlier on in our marriage and found a way anyway. Those are experiences we still talk about to this day, so they were worth every penny.
I think that’s the part a lot of people miss Melanie. Very few people frame experiences, learning or hard seasons as investments while they’re happening. But years later, those are usually the things still paying dividends. Some investments pay you back in ways a spreadsheet can’t track. And honestly, some of the best decisions my wife and I ever made probably failed the spreadsheet test at the time too. Funny how life works like that.
The line I liked:
"When you book a trip, you're celebrating who you are.
When you invest in your growth, you're acknowledging who you aren't yet."
That gap is real, and most people I know will spend years making the first move and calling the second one reckless.
The Colosseum framing cuts through the ROI argument entirely, and it just asks: what are you trying to leave standing?
That question hits differently at sixty than it did at fifty.
Great piece, JP, as always
I think that’s exactly it, Ken. The older I get, the less interested I am in short-term ROI arguments and the more interested I am in what’s still standing ten or twenty years later.
Loved listening to your article this morning. What stood out for me most is its not the power that survives its the work. The idea that what I write and talk about on this here will continue inspires me even more to share the work I love to do 🥰