Have you ever heard the term, ROI ? Do you know what it really means? ROI means…RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT. The economic principle involved in handling and using money is really quite simple. Whenever you spend money, you are simply exchanging it for a good or service provided to you by some sort of a supplier. Money that is spent is gone…not to return, and not to earn you anything. Spent money is just a medium of exchange….A good or service for its equivalent value in cash.
Money invested is an entirely different matter. Whenever an intelligent person invests their hard earned income, they do so full well expecting to earn some type or kind of good return. The investor expects not only to get all of his principal money back that he initially invested, but also an additional amount of earned income from the appreciation of the value of the asset that has occurred between the time he invested in it until he actually sold it. Ahhhh, but there is additionally one more source of investment earning that must be taken into consideration. That would be of course, any interest or dividends earned. Most investments entice cash from investors by offering them an interest income percentage rate to be paid on the amount of money they invest and enhanced by the time period over which their money is invested. It is this earned income percentage rate that attracts most investors attention and their related cash flow.
The combination of any two or more of these three possible ways to receive a Return on Investment….ROI…. is how the bigger amounts of capital gains and income earnings are made and consequently realized by the investors. Wealth is created mostly through the investment process….not as much as through the spending process.
Now listen carefully, as is the case with most all investments, there is a degree of risk of loss. This potential to lose a part or even all of your invested funds is what keeps many potential candidates for building great wealth. Many people simply will not take a risk.
The general rule of thumb surrounding investments is … the greater is the risk of loss,…the greater is the potential amount of earnings. In other words, those items of investments with the highest interest or rate of return (profit potential) are the ones which carry with them the greatest risk of losing everything.
Consequently good financial advisors will and should always counsel potential investors to never invest funds that they cannot afford to lose.
Now let us take this whole investment philosophy and carry it down to the level of you,….yourself. There is only one thing in which you personally can invest that carries with it a zero risk of loss….and that, of course, is YOU!
Unless and until you really know and value yourself, you will not be able to grow yourself. You will not be able to make yourself more and more valuable. You will not be able to create greater wealth and benefits for yourself and for your family. You must know and highly value yourself in order to grow yourself. This is the very step that hangs most people up and prevents them from ever reaching their God-given potential. They always want more, will work to have more, will even stretch themselves into the fringe of fear where all success occurs...but, because they do not understand the importance of investing in themselves, they miss out on the greatest blessings that could have been theirs for the taking had they known what to do to receive those blessings.
You see, dear ones, the truth is… that you do not know that which you do not know. And the way to learn that which you do not know is to get around, associate, and learn from the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of those who know more than you personally know and who are willing to give their experience to you, either freely or for a fee.
I will tell you the truth. God values you very highly. He has invested His creative efforts and power into making you an inhabitant of the earth. God’s Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, has invested his entire life in you. He sacrificed His life for you on Calvary’s Cross. May I ask you a very personal question?…What have you done for you? How much have you invested in you?
The wise man, according to the Holy Scripture, continues to grow wise and greatly benefits therefrom,….but the fool,…oh he just stays stupid.
Why? Because he never invests in himself. We do know one thing is for certain. If you never invest in anything, you guarantee you will never earn or receive a ROI. Consequently, life will simply pass you by.
Investments in yourself take on many varied and different forms encompassing many different scenarios and venues. Investments in yourself (for the success oriented person) are called personal and business building tools. They take the form of training and motivational seminars, rallies, conferences, celebrations, conventions, and other group events. Other tools for personal or business growth take the form of books, c.d.s, dvds, counseling, coaching, written or recorded articles, essays, publications, movies and yes,….. even websites.
The important thing to always keep in mind is that whenever you invest you expect to earn a good return on your investment. Permit me to show you what I mean as taken from my personal experience. When I began my own business in 1977, I was broke and seriously needed money. In the beginning, I did not know what I was doing. Thankfully I was able to learn from and rely upon those other people with whom I was involved. However, that learning technique was a slow and tedious method because we were separated by hundreds of miles and hours of time. The other type of learning and teaching tools all cost money, but would provide me the much needed knowledge I was immediately demanding which would then enable me to learn more of what I needed to do, and thereby equip me to more quickly begin earning the money (profits) I desperately needed to make.
I reasoned that if I sacrificed in other “nonbusiness” areas of my life and budget, doing so would free up the much needed funds necessary for acquiring my business building tools. Once the tools were in my hands, I could gain the knowledge therefrom and then immediately put it to use and more quickly build a profitable business. The produced profits from business operations would in turn provide my financial needs. My thought process went something like this…If I spend $25 dollars to buy this quantity of knowledge, inspiration, motivation, and education and it enables me to more quickly earn and extra $250 dollars of business profit….then I have not only made a good ROI, but I have also established a repeat source of earning by re-serving my established clients and further assisting my business associates. The on-going process just kept my business growing …because I was personally growing in my knowledge and understanding of people, life, and my own business which I had gained from having the success building tools available for my daily use.
Never sell yourself short. Invest in your own mind. The more you know, the more you can give to others. The more you give, the more you shall receive. That is the way it all works….by God’s great design!
Be wise,….use all of the tools that are available to you.
Peace and Love to All of You………………Poppa Bear