INVEST IN YOU!

We hear lines like, 'invest in yourself' or 'you are your biggest investment'; but what does it mean and how should one go about investing in oneself? Also, you have to stay relevant or you will be obsolete. Dominic CostaBir breaks it down for us...

- Dominic CostaBir

Investment may be defined as the act of employing resources like money, time, knowledge etc in a project for gains or profit. We put our time into working a job that gives us a good paycheck. We invest the surplus money into the market and spend time worrying about the returns it makes. We realise that there is the risk of market fluctuations, acts of God and man; which can't be controlled by the people or organisations entrusted with our money, nor us. Add to that the risk of misuse, mistakes and fraud. In short, such market investments are gambles.

However, when you invest your time and money in YOU; most factors are within your control. Your education, knowledge, skills, experience, time and effort are your investments and your income is your Return On Investment (ROI).

Your ROI (earnings or salary) must beat inflation and simultaneously ward off the threat of being made redundant by tech upgrades and AI. If you only work for a paycheck and not to upgrade and upskill, you're sure to render yourself irrelevant.

Pointers to invest in oneself and stay relevant: