Top 6 Skills Worth Investing In Your Life & Career

Do you know enough skills? There are thousands of skills that you can develop in your lifetime, and the more you develop, 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 own budget, expenses, and savings is what 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 mange your budget and savings, Investopedia University to learn about basis finance 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 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 to establish a meditation habit to take care of your mind.

3. Mentorship

A mentor can change the direction and trajectory of your life and career in a heartbeat. Finding the people that have already been where you want to go is invaluable, and I have personally travelled 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 finding out in 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 simply 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 incredibly useful. 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. Books are much more valuable than articles you’ll find online, because most people spend years researching, writing, and editing their books, and there’s just much more thought that goes into the material. It’s one of the biggest return on investments you can have on $10-15.

There are great platforms like Scribd, which is Netlix 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 all around the world, and knowing how to speak just one or two languages is not enough.

Whenever we do anything, whether it’s starting a business, looking for jobs, or even where to live, we should always be taking 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 there are additional benefits that come with language learning, including cultural knowledge, cognitive improvements, and communication skills.

The biggest reason why most people never learn a language is lack of time. Check out language learning websites like Rype, which is specifically built for busy professionals. It offers unlimited private language lessons online (Spanish right now), that allows 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 a good option to start off with. Whichever option you choose, make sure to use solutions that accommodate your busy schedule, 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 own business, career, and life to take care of. Whereas a coach is normally paid to give 100% of their attention to helping you achieve your goals.

Another benefit to having a coach is that they’re able to 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 to hire 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 it can also be for growing your business, improving your health & fitness, or even learning a new language.

The post Top 6 Skills Worth Investing In Your Life & Career appeared first on Lifehack.