If you are a business owner, I want to ask you this – when did you last invest into your own self-development?

Is it something that you do on an ongoing basis – and don’t think twice about the time and money?

Or is it something that you “never have the time for” or “don’t see the value in”?

Don’t limit your options

Over the weekend, I attended a free full day seminar on the topic of ‘Story-showing’, run by the Speakers’ Institute. Yes, it took up my whole Saturday – time away from my young family – but considering that I am now branching out into workshops, masterminds, presentations, one-on-ones, and even (eek!) retreats, I figured that it was worth it for the free advice. Even if I just took away one thing.

I knew they would try to up-sell me to their 3 Day Bootcamp. I read about it and pre-warned myself. I promised myself that I wouldn’t be caught up in it all and I wouldn’t spend a cent.

But why should I be so focused on only developing myself for free – if it’s actually a very worthwhile training course for me to do?

It’s time to invest in yourself

Although I consider myself to be a strong speaker, I am already aware that I have less-than-ideal habits, such as waving my hands around excessively, ‘tsking’ at the end of sentences, going up in pitch at the end of my sentences, and rushing through my words when nerves get the better of me. So any training to improve those things would be great! And if I’m going to be trained by the best-of-the-best, Sam Cawthorn, who is snapped up for speaking gigs all over the world (at $10K a pop for a 1 hour talk in Australia alone), then this is the right opportunity for me.

And on top of that – the last time I did any real sort of training for self-development was about eight years ago when I completed my Certificate IV in Public Relations. Eight years ago! Where has the time gone?

When did you last do any form of training? When did you last invest in yourself?

Well, I think it’s about time that I invested in myself. I’ve been thinking about all the reasons why I should do this training, and realised that there’s many of you out there in the same boat.

Here are 5 reasons why we all need to invest in ourselves:

1. You no longer have a boss to send you to training

Remember the days when your manager signed you up for a training or self-development course on this or that – and you jumped at the chance to get away from your desk for a day or two? You probably never realised just how much those courses were and how much the company was willing to pay to invest in you. It would have been up there in the thousands of dollars.

But when you have your own business, you are the boss. So unless you give yourself these opportunities, they aren’t going to be served to you on a silver platter. You need to seek them and grab them if they feel right to you.

 2. It’s never going to be the ‘right time’

If you have a young family and a mortgage and utility bills to pay,  and you’re already cramming so much into your day that sometimes you feel like your head is going to explode, it’s easy to say ‘It’s not the right time for me.”

But the fact is – these things are always going to be there in some shape or form. So if self-development is important to you (and it should be! See no. 3 below), you simply need to find a way to make it work. Allow enough time to tee it up with your partner’s work schedule if it’s outside of your usual work hours, or organise a babysitter.

3. You need to be continuously growing

While, as adults, we may not want our bodies to grow much more (unless we’re talking about pregnancy!), we do need to continuously expand our minds about the world around us, our industry, our audience’s needs, and our own needs.

If you are not moving forward, but your competitors are – then you risk being left behind. 

Make sure you are always your best possible self. And if you know there is an area that requires improvement, don’t complain about it or state it as a fact that can’t be changed. Look for ways to move past it.

4. Think of your ROI 

It can be very hard to part with your money for training, especially when you feel that you’re taking money away from your family. But think about the long term.

If you spend this money on the training now, how will it benefit you in the future? 

• Will you be more likely to attract and sustain customers?
• Will your knowledge give you the opportunity to branch out in your product and/or service offerings, which will lead to more income?
• Will it set you apart from your competitors?

If you know that you’ll undertake the training and never look at the notes after leaving the conference room at the end of the day, then don’t even bother. But if you are prepared to use all that key information to enhance yourself and develop your business, then the whole experience will be extremely valuable!

5. You’re important too!

You may be a mum, a dad, a wife, a husband, a daughter, a son – but you are also you! 

Don’t forget who you are. You can be there for everyone else, but don’t sacrifice your own self-worth in the process. If you nurture yourself and give yourself and your business the attention it needs, then you have so much more to offer everyone else.

Be a role model for your kids! Show them that Mummy and Daddy also need to go to ‘school’ sometimes to learn and grow. Show them that hard work and some sacrifices in life can lead to future gain – such as being able to afford their dance and soccer classes!

If content marketing is an area that you don’t feel confident in, and you want to learn more, check out the ‘Academy’ page or pop me an email.

Let me help you to grow!

Keep on writing,

Leanne