Today, lots of people are concerned about how they’re investing their money. It’s easy to watch the stock market dip and soar, and get a little hint of excitement any time your IRA or personal accounts are “up.”
How many people, though, check where they invest their more precious assets – namely, their time, energy and emotions?
As people, we only have so many resources. We’re not equipped with infinite levels of love, energy or passion. As such, ensuring we’re investing these finite resources into long-lasting, sustainable and uplifting things is critical.
Today, I want to talk about why it’s so essential to check where you invest, and why you need to stop investing in anything that doesn’t offer life you up or provide real value.
The Importance of Investing Wisely
Let’s go back to the money analogy for a moment. If you had $1,000 to spend, would you choose to invest it in an account that would decrease or increase its value?
Of course, you’d want the account that would increase its value! What about your personal resources, though? What about your energy, time and thoughts?
According to the NY Daily News, the average adult watches more than 33 hours of television each week. While this might seem innocent enough, it means that these people are choosing to invest some of the most precious hours of their days, weeks and lives into who the Bachelor is going to choose next, or what The Real Housewives are fighting about today.
This is crazy when you think about it! Time is our most valuable resource, and yet so many people undervalue it. While you can always make more money, you can’t reclaim lost time. This is why investing your time into mindless television, gossip columns, superficial relationships or celebrity crushes is such a poor investment.
Time: The World’s Greatest Gift
When you give your time to someone, you’re telling them that they are important enough to deserve something you can never get back. This is why it’s so critical to check where you’re investing, especially when it comes to your relationships. Human relationships are some of the primary things that keep us happy and help us navigate through life, and it’s essential to find the good ones and then keep them close.
Think of it this way: we all have the same number of hours in a day. So what separates the people who have strong relationships and happy personal lives from the ones who don’t? For most people, it is less of a matter of not having enough time, and more of a question of how they are prioritizing said time.
When you decide what is important to you and start to invest in those things only, you give yourself the gift of making better use of your time, and the people around you the gift of being worthy of your time.
Invest Wisely
Just like some of us make monthly or yearly deposits into IRAs and investment funds, we make daily deposits of time, energy and effort into the things and people around us.
When you become more conscience of these deposits and how you’re distributing them, you’ll be able to re-allocate your investments accordingly. When you stop investing in the negative relationships, pointless activities and senseless habits that steal your time, you’ll have more energy and attention to give to the ones you love. This, in turn, will help make you happier and healthier, overall.
This year, invest in yourself and your children. Invest in the things that matter to you and lead you to a fulfilled life. Remember, Tony Robbins said, “The only way a relationship will last is if you see it as a place you go to give, not a place you go to take.”