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Today’s question comes from Indira Berikova from Alma-Ata, Almaty, Kazakhstan, when she wants to know “What is the best investment in the market right now?” 

I have a good grasp on money management and taking care of our future as my wife and I are almost debt free, live below our means and give 10% of our income away to good causes.

That was not always the case.

Have you ever been so broke you had to water down your soap and struggle to find rent money? A couple years ago, Chelsea and I had to water down our watered down soap. We had $84 in our bank account, had no idea where rent money was coming from and almost got on food stamps.

I applied for 75+ jobs with no response (even Quiznos didn’t hire me!). I remember laying on our carpeted floor, not knowing what we were going to do. We walked outside to clear our minds and the phone rang. I got a job! An awesome job! They even paid me an advance so we could stay in our apartment and slowly get back on our feet.

I don’t like being crunched for cash. It’s not fun going to the grocery store and not being able to get the types of food you want. It’s not fun when you have friends who go out and you can’t join them because you can’t even afford one happy hour beer. It’s not fun to not be able to buy your wife a $2 flower to show her you love her because that’s not “in the budget.” I never wanted to be in that situation again!

Once we got that light of hope with a job offer, we did everything we could to advance our personal and professional career. We started reading, digesting, learning and taking in as much information as we could about life, success, money, happiness, family, goal setting and travel.

We agreed to always live below our means, take care of the things we care about most by sticking to our four pillars and to have a successful life. Four years later, we still live by these principles and it has helped us have a life we feel proud to live.

So I am not a financial advisor, I dabble with my E-Trade account by buying stocks and selling options and right now most of the money we make goes right back into our companies, but the best investment you can make in today’s economy, without a doubt, is yourself! 

Invest in you! Read more books. Watch more educational videos. Listen to motivational CDs. Go workout and take alone time. Create goals. Stretch yourself. Do what it takes to make things happen in your life! When you invest in yourself, others will invest in you.

What are you doing right now, today, so that tomorrow you are stronger, better, more efficient and more successful than you were two days ago? Invest in yourself and not only will your family be stronger, our world will be better!

Keep investing in yourself and it will pay dividends for years to come. Thanks for the question Indira and as always…

Dream BIG,
Ryan

P.S. My goal is to help you reach yours. I will be honest, open and share valuable content that will help improve areas of your life. If you like my content, sign up to receive articles in the right hand corner of this page. Thank you and keep working to make things happen!

Ryan Avery

Author Ryan Avery

Hi, my name is Ryan Avery! Every Sunday I share the "notes" I use to build my keynotes. They are personal stories and tangible strategies we can use to improve the way we communicate at work, at home and with ourselves.

More posts by Ryan Avery

Join the discussion 9 Comments

  • Victor says:

    Ryan,

    This is great advise that anyone can use to get out of the “paycheck to paycheck” cycle. I love the four-pillars philosophy.

    Thanks you for sharing!

  • Paul Sohn says:

    Can’t agree more Ryan!

    Robin Sharma said, “Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. it will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you.”

    Have you read the Compound Effect by Darren Hardy? Your post reminded me of that book. Haven’t read the book from cover to cover but heard a lot of great reviews. Thinking about reviewing that book again. http://www.amazon.com/The-Compound-Effect-Darren-Hardy/dp/159315724X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405525842&sr=8-1&keywords=the+compound+effect

    Keep it up Ryan!

    Paul// Leadership Blogger, http://www.paulsohn.org

  • Ryan Avery says:

    Thanks Victor! Glad to hear you like the four pillars! I recommend to anyone as it has really helped us in so many ways!

  • Ryan Avery says:

    Great quote from Robin, thanks for sharing Paul. I have not yet read Compound Effect by Darren but I have heard great things as well. I will have to add that to my reading list. Thanks for sharing!

  • Indira says:

    I am really very thanfull for your answer! Very very happy! My best wishes to you and Chelsea!

  • Ryan Avery says:

    Thanks for asking this questions and I am glad you like the response 🙂

  • Chandler says:

    Ryan,

    Excellent article. It’s one lesson I didn’t learn in college and I aim to spread it to everyone I meet who doesn’t seem to be getting where they want to be. Self-education is the only thing that has allowed me to do the things I’ve done in the last year. People look at motivational books, CDs, and podcasts and laugh. But what they teach you is a way to learn outside of the traditional structure. To seek out what interests you and figure out who you really are. Only then can you be both happy and successful.

    Thanks for sharing!

    http://www.chandlercrawford.com/

  • Ryan Avery says:

    Thanks so much for sharing this Chandler! I agree with you, I like to listen to TED talks in the car instead of music sometimes and it feels like the car ride is so much better! Hope you stick around the blog and looking forward to learning more about what you do as a blogger on http://www.ChandlerCrawford.com.

  • Marc Gabris says:

    Great post! Too true!

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