Do you use the time and money you have to invest in yourself? Most people listening to my podcast are involved in real estate in some way, so you understand the concept of investments. It's putting an asset in a place where it can grow, to your benefit. We get that concept, yet strangely enough, we don't really believe in how important it is to invest in ourselves.

This episode is about that. I want to emphasize how important it is, for a number of reasons, to invest in yourself. I talk about the one fear successful people live with, reverse-engineering your goals, living in light of the reality of how short life is, a commitment to learning in everything, and more.

Successful people live with a fear of regret

There's only one thing that truly successful people fear. It's regret. Successful people think ahead to the end of their lives, they know that they only have a limited amount of time on the planet - and they live today in light of that truth. They do NOT want to be lying in their deathbed or looking back at life from the other side and regret the things they did or didn't do in life.

I encourage you to consider how that applies to yourself. One of the best ways you can invest in yourself is to take the time to think through the reality of your own mortality. You don't have very long left. You don't have time to waste. Do you want to look back and wish you'd done things differently? Of not, then learn to invest in yourself by doing today what you won't be able to do tomorrow.

Do you know how to reverse-engineer the goals you want to attain?

All of us have goals - or at least we say we do. But the people who are truly successful understand how to reverse-engineer the things they want. They look at the desired outcome and work backwards to figure out the steps it takes to get there. If you're going to take your life seriously so you don't look back on a lifetime of regret, you've got to learn this skill.

This episode highlights how I learned to reverse-engineer my goals and explains why I like to shoot for 1-year goals rather than 5 year, 10 year, or lifetime goals. Take the time to listen.

The time is now: You don't have as long as you think

One of the things I learned recently came from an event I attended. I was there because I was taking intentional steps to invest in myself. The cost of admission wasn't cheap, but this one lesson made it worth every penny.

The average male lives to the age of 78. Seventy-eight years, guys! That's not very long. To put it into perspective, let's do a little math.

Take that 78 years and subtract your current age. Multiply that by 365 (the number of days in a year). Then multiply that by .67 (the amount of each day the average person spends sleeping). The number you come up with is the number of conscious days you have left on the planet. What are you going to do with them?

The point is this: The time is now. Don't wait to invest in yourself. It's the most powerful thing you can do to live a life that matters before it's too late.

When you invest in yourself, you don't really have competition

Most people think of investing in themselves in terms of dollar signs - or more commonly, the perceived lack of them. You think you can't afford to spend money on yourself, but I'm here to tell you that you can't afford not to.

It doesn't cost that much to buy a book and read it. It doesn't cost that much to listen to podcasts like this one. It's an easy win, a way to learn and apply what you hear. There are many ways you can invest in yourself that cost you nothing but time.

And here's the beautiful part: when you do make the effort to invest in yourself, you'll discover that your competition falls way behind. Why? Because investing in yourself is hard work. It's what winners do, and most people talk about being winners without putting in the effort to back it up. Which are you going to be? My friend, do it. Invest in yourself.

Outline of This Episode

• [1:30] The most important decision: Investing in yourself
• [6:29] Successful people live in fear of regret
• [9:30] How gratitude and thankfulness shape the way you live
• [10:50] You've got to live a life by design
• [13:02] The time is now: you don't have as long left on the planet as it feels you do
• [24:25] Here's the reason you don't really have competition in your life and business
• [30:08] It's important to take imperfect action toward what's scaring you most
• [34:08] Focus on multiplication, not addition and be transparent about your goals

Resources & People Mentioned

• Ed Mylett
• BOOK: Halftime by Bob Bruford

Connect With Matt

• [email protected]
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