How you can invest in yourself, not just a franchise

While you are considering investing in a franchise and choosing a business model to deliver your future financial freedom, it’s also worth taking stock and considering the investment you could make in yourself. After all, spending a little time and money on your own personal and professional development makes good financial sense and will pay dividends: an investment in yourself could last a lifetime, help you develop new skills and improve your confidence. So how can you go about investing in yourself?

Set ambitious goals

Be audacious and be brave. I personally don’t see any point in setting easily achievable goals so wherever your comfort zone is, challenge and stretch it. Once goals are set, whether they are personal or professional ones, that will help you focus on what you want to achieve. Then it’s important to set timescales to push yourself to achieve them.

Educate yourself

Read books or listen to audio books and podcasts. The great thing about the latter two is that you can listen while you are doing something else. There are now podcasts on numerous subjects, so you’re sure to find something that will interest you. You can also attend seminars, which are a great combination of educating yourself while meeting like-minded people. Another option is webinars: I love that you can go online now and get access to such great content, often at no charge.

Build your personal brand

Invest time in creating a personal brand for yourself. If you are starting or running a business this is important. Start online with LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Think about how you want potential clients or customers to view you and tailor your posts accordingly. Once you have covered all the social media, create content – whether that’s blogs, podcasts or vlogs – and use it to build your online presence

Create your bucket list

If you don’t already have a bucket list, put one together by writing down 100 things you’d like to do, achieve, see and experience in your life. Then ensure that you try to tick one or two off the list every month. These can be personal or business aspirations: the most important factor is that the bucket list is unique to you.

Find more free time

Create a time diary and see how you spend your time. There are numerous apps you can use to log your day: I suggest you record for a month and this will help you see where the time thieves hang out. The object of this is to create free time that is yours to do with as you please. It will not only help you see how your productivity changes throughout the day but also experience life and spend it how you wish.”