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Do you know enough skills? There are thousands of skills that you can develop in your lifetime, and the more you create, the better quality of life you can lead. With that said, some skills are more valuable than others, and in this article, we’re going to narrow down the top 7 skills worth investing in your life and career.
1. Personal Finance
If you can’t take care of your personal finance, everything else you want to achieve can fall apart because you don’t have the basic needs met. Developing the skill to manage your budget, expenses, and savings will allow you to take care of your family, pay your bills, and invest in the resources that will keep you expanding.
Money isn’t the only thing that will make you happy in life, but it’s the base layer that will act as a supporting pillar to the things you want to achieve in your life.
To get started, check out Mint.com to manage your budget and savings, Investopedia University to learn about basic financial terminology and concepts, and personal finance books like I Will Teach You To Be Rich or Wealthy Barber.
2. Health
Taking care of your physical health is becoming more mainstream today, but taking care of your mental health is another. For many people, health is a second or third priority in their lives when it should be the number one. Making sure your mind and body are at the top of their game is not only going to help you enjoy the success you achieve, but it’s what will accelerate your success.
Health is what gives you the energy and the focus to think clearly and push through the inevitable tough times that will come your way. You can get started by booking a membership at your local gym to work on your physical body and check out apps like Headspace, which will help guide you through establishing a meditation habit to take care of your mind.
3. Mentorship
A mentor can change your life and career direction and trajectory in a heartbeat. Finding the people that have already been where you want to go is invaluable, and I have personally traveled across the country to have face-to-face time with the right mentors.
Whether your goal is to build a business, land your dream job, or simply find out what direction you should go, investing in finding a mentor is essential. To be clear, this doesn’t have to be a personal relationship you develop with someone, as some mentors are too busy to work with anyone one-on-one. A mentor can be a biography of your hero, podcast show, online program, or a book that allows you to learn how they think and the decisions they have made along their career.
4. Books
This is where books are beneficial. If you don’t have direct access to a mentor, you can always invest in books and find yourself having several mentors that you can access on-demand. Readers are much more valuable than articles you’ll find online because most people spend years researching, writing, and editing their books, and much more thought goes into the material. It’s one of the most significant investment returns on $10-15.
There are great platforms like Scribd and Netflix for books, where you can access an unlimited number of books for as little as $8.99 per month. Last time I checked, they have hundreds of thousands of books in their content library, and even if you’re reading one book a month, it’s worth the membership cost.
5. Language learning
With the rising globalization, we’re entering a multicultural and multilingual world. Everything from the media, business, economy, and entertainment is being distributed worldwide, and knowing how to speak just one or two languages is not enough.
Whenever we do anything, whether starting a business, looking for jobs, or even where to live, we should always take a global approach instead of limiting ourselves to our local city. The easiest way to expand your growth and thinking is to learn a new language because additional benefits come with language learning, including cultural knowledge, cognitive improvements, and communication skills.
The biggest reason most people never learn a language is lack of time. Check out language learning websites like Rype, built explicitly for busy professionals. It offers unlimited private language lessons online (Spanish right now) that allow you to learn at any time of the day and any day of the week for as little as 30 minutes per session.
Or, if you want to dip your feet into the pool, Duolingo is an excellent option to start with. Make sure to use solutions that accommodate your busy schedule, whichever option you choose, rather than interrupting it.
6. Life or Business Coach
A coach is different from a mentor in several ways. Most mentors won’t have the time to dedicate to helping you achieve your goals because they have their businesses, career, and life to take care of. At the same time, a coach is typically paid to give 100% of their attention to helping you achieve your goals.
Another benefit to having a coach is that they can give you an outside perspective without bias and discover blindspots that are often very difficult to see when you’re working in the trenches. Hiring a coach for your life or career is no different than a corporation spending a million dollars on hiring an outside consultant that will help make them 5 million dollars. The amount you invest in a great coach will give you a return that will pay you back in multiple folds.
Coaching is not limited to life or career but can also be for growing your business, improving your health & fitness, or even learning a new language.
