Fourth Cohort, Session 2 · Investing in Yourself

Invest 20% in yourself every year

Key insights

Invest 20% in yourself every year。Nothing is a better investment than investing in yourself。Break out of your bubble and get involved。If you don't spend money proactively, you'll be forced to pay the price。

6.1 The 20% Rule

Why invest in yourself

• Benefits of investing in yourself:
  • Increase your value
  • Release risk
  • Break out of your circle
  • Broaden your understanding
  • Avoid being taken advantage of
• Consequences of not investing:
  • Stagnant thinking
  • Harvested
  • The root of a poverty mindset
  • Unable to turn things around

6.2 Ways to invest

Learning

• Ways:
  • Take classes
  • Buy books
  • Learn skills
  • Broaden your understanding
  • Trial and error
• Result:
  • Improve your abilities
  • Increase your value
  • Avoid getting ripped off
  • Long-term returns

Connections

• Ways:
  • Attend industry conferences
  • Take a mentor out for a meal
  • Break out of your circle
  • Gather intelligence
  • Meet people
• Result:
  • Gather information
  • More opportunities
  • Deepen your understanding
  • Collaboration opportunities

Trial and error

• Ways:
  • Experiment on a Small Budget
  • Personally step into the arena
  • See how you get fleeced
  • Learn the playbook
  • Gain experience
• Result:
  • Know where the pitfalls are
  • Avoid major losses
  • Learn the playbook
  • Grow the fastest

Key quotes

• "Invest 20% in yourself every year."
• "No investment beats investing in yourself."
• "Break out of your circle and get involved firsthand."
• "If you don't spend money proactively, you'll be harvested passively."
• "Pay the IQ tax proactively, not passively."

Practice checklist

• ☐ Invest 20% in yourself this year
• ☐ Sign up for a course
• ☐ Attend an industry conference
• ☐ Treat a senior person to a meal
• ☐ Run one low-cost experiment