Becoming more valuable gradually happens over time. I’ve been there myself. I remember my first gig where I was being paid just a little over minimum wage as a consultant back in 2008 to now where I can command way more than that just for my time and thoughts in certain businesses. What I can tell you is this, the best way to make sure that your professional growth reaches its full potential is that you INVEST IN YOURSELF. This is how you build your credibility & skills necessary for you to offer better products and/or services to much higher paying clients/customers.
Below are the 5 ways to invest in yourself:
CERTIFICATIONS | When you earn certifications, you gain a leverage against some of your competition. Not really a guarantee, but a slight advantage. Do research about the professional certifications regarding your chosen industry or which type of business you’re dedicated to. Most are now offered online through ONLINE COURSES. This is best for those who are consulting, coaching and offer professional services.
ASSOCIATIONS | When you become a member of a various industry professional associations, it gives you three things: Credibility, referrals and a bigger network of connections.
SEMINARS/CONFERENCES/WEBINARS/WORKSHOPS | When you attend these types pf events, you get new information and a vast number of new contacts you can add to your arsenal for your business growth. You can research through trade and professional associations for more information on which one you want to participate.
CONTINUED EDUCATION ONLINE | No matter the circumstances, it is imperative that you keep your skills sharp, remain relevant, know what’s current, learn trends or pick up something new with free or paid online courses. There are thousands of choices you can find at: Open University on iTunes U, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning Courses including Academic Institutions that offer MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses).
READ BOOKS | You can read the hardbound copies of books or download e-books. I prefer reading hardbound books and having a handy highlighter pen to note important things that I’m able to pick up from the best writers I can find. Make it a point to read at least 1 to 2 books a month. I read at least 3-5 books a month depending on my schedule. I reserve 2 times during the day to read books, 1 in the morning for 30-45 minutes and in the evening for about an hour or so prior to going to bed (instead of holding my phone). My wife usually finds me sleeping with a book on my chest in the morning. One thing I can tell you about reading non-fictional books is this: “READERS ARE LEADERS.”
With so much more free time in our hands now due to the pandemic, there’s really no excuse now for us to not take advantage of all this added new free time to invest in ourselves even more. Take time to prioritize your personal and business growth by investing in your future.
Question of the day: Which of these 5 have you heavily invested on for yourself?
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December 18, 2020 Author Jimbogs
I invest myself more on continued education online because they are many sources or materials for learning. Like this blog of Mr. Antonio Aguirre, it helps me a lot because most of the articles are related to my course and it is very inspiring. All the blogs are very relevant in our life and it will have a positive impact on our holistic well-being.
December 20, 2020 Author joseph
I invest more on #5 because reading books is significant on the grounds that it builds up our thoughts, gives us interminable information and exercises while keeping our brains dynamic. Books can hold and keep a wide range of data, stories, and emotions dissimilar to whatever else in this world.
December 20, 2020 Author Nico
I believe that continued education online is more important because every thing we search or read online will improve our strengths and weaknesses. It will expand our horizons to face the present and the future challenges.
January 15, 2021 Author rhona
In my opinion, taking continuing education courses, even if not needed for your job, is important to your health.
Basically, it keeps the brain muscles working and broadens the mind and its view of the world. Scientific literature report that people who have kept their minds active had a clear lower probability of getting dementia.
I took a series of night courses because of my interest in that area. For the first year, my mind was rather sore since it hadn’t been used that hard to study in a number of years. But I was able to see the difference in myself as I went through the courses.
January 15, 2021 Author edward
My philosophy has always been to not simply be educated to earn a living but to be educated for life, which means that you should not just focus on your chosen discipline. Life is far too broad to limit yourself to one discipline, one profession, one career, and to be someone with a broad educational base makes you suited to so much much more. That is one of the reasons why the humanities is so useful. Ultimately it is not so much about your job, but about you as a human being in a constant transition phase. We need to be capable of accepting the need for change, of being the change and of creating environments for change. I know it’s a cliche to say that there is nothing as constant as change, but it’s a truism that we need to invest in.
January 15, 2021 Author jocelyn
You must remember that you must always be ENHANCING” your life! Your life is much more than a collection of skills sets! Most of what one learns will benefit one’s own life whether it be art or music, languages or cultures, or even a simple class in pottery. Best to try continued education online
January 15, 2021 Author Pogi
You may have a great deal of interest in a subject and taking a continuing online education course may resolve this interest. You may take continuing education to learn more about your special interests that could prove to be a big advantage if an opportunity comes along to help you get into this field of interest at a later time in life.
January 15, 2021 Author Hans Angelo
Gaining more in-depth knowledge / information on something that interests you personally and something that you want to know more about. In some ways, it’s a recreational pursuit. It may do nothing for you with regard to your job. But it might do a lot for your head, and for becoming a more well-rounded person. Which isn’t a bad aim.