Many of us think that the only investments are Money, Gold, Real Estate, and all other Tangible Items. People like to buy things as a form of investment and sell it in the future. Even luxury items like designer bags and antique collections are considered investments. Many people don’t invest in things they can’t see or touch.
Not all investments are created equally. There are invisible investments or in financial terms, intangible assets. It does not have an exact monetary equivalent so most people neglect these investments and put less importance on it. What people don’t realize is that we should have been investing more in this because it can’t be stolen or bought from you but it can be shared with others.
These 5 investments will not only make you rich but will also make you Smarter, Happier, and Healthier.
- Knowledge
- Skills
- Relationships
- Experience
- Health
1. Knowlege
#Education
Our parents sent us to school not just to learn how to read, write, and count. They are investing in creating a better future for us so we can live independently and abundantly. This is not just your parent’s investment but your own investment in your own future.
Many parents even send their children to very expensive schools just so they will have more job opportunities and higher job income offers. If you are a student now and you feel lazy and under-motivated to study, think of your education as an investment that will make money for you in the future. Better education and higher grades can make you earn more thru better job offers.
#Reading
What do Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, and Bills Gates have in common aside from money? Books. They read a lot. Warren Buffett, an investment and business philanthropist reads 5 newspapers and 500 pages of corporate reports a day.
Nowadays, books are not the only source of information there’s the internet which should make it a lot easier for all of us to learn and gain more knowledge. Read more, Learn more, and Gain more. Reading can help you learn about investments and financial freedom.
#Research
Not everything can be read in one book and some are not even on books yet. Feed your curiosity thru research. It gives you a deeper knowledge of any topic or idea. Because of this, you are able to discover new things and develop ideas it that is why many companies spend so much money on research and development.
New Innovations are created thru research and developments. The world we live in now and the things we use were developed thru research. Research is done not just by reading books but combining it with experimentations, interviews, and brainstorming. Who knows? You could be the next richest inventor or innovator.
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest!
Benjamin Franklin
2. Skills
The difference between skills and knowledge is the application. Not all people who are smart are skilled. Many inventors, bookworms, and honor students did not become rich or earn a lot of money as much as those who are skilled.
Knowledge must be accompanied by skills. It means mind and body coordination, learning techniques, and gain some level of expertise. It also means diversification – learn skills other than you graduated from, other than your work, and other than you already know. If your skills don’t make you super-rich, it will surely save you from poverty.
Imagine you are a cashier or an investment manager, how are you going to survive unemployment if all you know is just related to your job? Can you bake and sell your products? Do you even know how to fix your own faucet?
Future-proof your life by learning other skills. There are basics skills that we all should learn and there are advanced skills that we should consider taking. Basic survival skills are those taught at home or at Boy Scout camping. Learning a skill and becoming an expert will also make you rich.
Businesses and wealthy people pay a premium for unique skills. This is how Content Creators, Graphic Designers, Photographers make money. Most of them even just do skills as part-time-jobs. Here are some schools, apps, and a website where you can learn some new skills.
- Coursera
- Skillshare (2 Month Free Subscription)
- Udemy
- Youtube
Invest in yourself. Your career is the engine of your wealth
Paul Clitheroe
3. Relationships
Invest in your relationships with people. I don’t mean you will buy people or incentivize relationships or use people for your own gain. I mean, investing in the important people that help you grow Emotionally, Physically, Mentally, and Financially. Build your life around people and not things. How can relationships make you rich?
#Family
Who are the most important people in your life? Family. They are the reason why you strive, why you work, and why you want to succeed. They give you purpose and direction in life.
When a person has a purpose, he tends to create a mission and vision in his mind and there is greater enthusiasm to succeed. Whenever you choose between attending to a family’s medical emergency or work, ask yourself: From whom do I get the strength to wake up, work, and succeed?
#Friends
Friends make everything in life less stressful. Everybody needs a friend to trust and to enjoy life with. Friends will divert our negativity from stressful work, family responsibilities, and life problems in general. We connect because we have common interests, common values, or common life stories. Having someone to share your emotions, ideas, activities, and stories help eases emotions. Work and other activities are more successful and productive when done with friends. Conversations with friends also enhance not just our EQ but our intellect as well. Many great ideas, inventions, and businesses came from simple chatting or conversations.
#Employees
Employees are an asset to a company. If you are a businessman, an executive, or a leader, you need to create an environment for healthy work relationships. Happy employees are more productive, more cooperative, and more loyal. This is why many companies have team building and company outings.
#Clients or Customers
One of the benefits of building business relationships with customers or clients is gaining their trust and loyalty. You will learn how to be a better listener, have more patience, be helpful and most importantly, learn their psychology. This is not only helpful to the business but to your character as well.
#Others
Include business partners, neighbor’s even strangers. Every person you meet is an opportunity to learn, to connect, to grow and to earn. Networking and being able to talk to people you don’t know is one of the most valuable skills in entrepreneurship. Strangers can become your friends, your business partners, your client or a mentor.
People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel!
Maya Angelou
4. Experience
Invest in experiences. The more you experience, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you grow emotionally, intellectually, and financially. You can’t live life fully and improve your life just by planning, reading, and imagining. You can’t officially say you know something unless you have experienced it yourself. Those experiences may include failures but failures teach us more than success will ever do.
#Join Events
When invited to events, say yes. Try to experience going to concerts, or bars, parties, ceremonies, and others. Important and influential people are usually in those events. Even if you are just there out of curiosity, you can learn and enjoy at the same time. It will also help you discover yourself – what you like or don’t like; what you can and can’t tolerate.
#Travel
One of the benefits of traveling is that you learn and develop new ideas from how people live in other countries. New Food, Environment, Technology, Culture are some of the things you can learn from traveling. Many businesses existed because of travel. Importation and exportation existed because of travel. Travel widens the world of possibilities for your personal growth and even business growth. Even if you are not traveling for business, do it for pleasure. Travel is good for the Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul.
#Try New Things
It can be as subtle as watching a new movie or downloading an app, playing a game or it can be as adventurous as bungee jumping. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and smarter. It will also make you less ignorant. Experiences are bragging rights as well. Do you notice that most influential people talk so much about their experiences and not about what they bought?
Experience is the Best Teacher
Unknown
5. Health
Investing in your health is the best decision you can ever do in life yet many people neglect this because they still feel healthy. The reality is, we all age, get sick, and die but nobody wants that to happen too early.
All the previous 4 invisible or intangible investments I have mentioned will be useless or even gone if you don’t have good health. You can’t learn, work well, or concentrate if you don’t feel well. Relationships suffer too because of your mood swings, depression, and weakness. You can’t travel or do anything because your physical body limits you to do so. Investing in good health may not give you money but it will save you from poverty and untimely death.
He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope has everything
Thomas Carlyle
Money is needed but not everything good in life revolves around money. These 5 intangible and invisible investments are proof of that. In fact, if you just invest in knowledge, skills, relationships, and health, the money will eventually follow. The best about this investment is that you can share it without making yourself poor. Share, Inspire, Help, and Motivate others to invest their money in something meaningful to their personal growth.
Money can’t buy you happiness but poverty can’t buy you anything
Jay Shetty
