If we want to live your life on our terms, reach our goals, achieve our dreams and have a good life, then we must invest in our future. It won’t just happen, we must work for it and take the necessary actions to invest in it. The more we invest now, the more we’ll reap in the future.

The way I like to think about this is quite simple really; the decisions I make and actions I take now, is the path to what will be manifested in my future, or put another way, it’s the accumulated effect of my actions now in the present (we can only take action in the present), that create my future.

I have a mantra that I try to remember every day –  ‘what am I investing in right now?’ It’s this that helps me to remember that it’s my responsibility, and mine alone, to make the necessary investments now, in the moment, in order to achieve the future I desire.

 5 Ways to Invest in Your Future

1. Invest in Building Financial Foundations

 "The stronger the foundations we put down now, the stronger our financial future"

Many of us have dreams for a better life, to be able to do the things we love, spend more time with family, friends and loved ones, to be free to travel, to take luxury extended vacations, to be free of debt, to be able to give more to the community, or simply to be free of financial concerns.

Like it or not, our financial situation plays a significant role in our lives, what we do or don’t do, the restrictions we impose on ourselves, or not, whether we achieve our goals and dreams, or not.

Investing in building solid financial foundations is the way to improving your financial situation. This may take some time and real effort, especially to begin with, and as with any investment you should not expect to see an immediate return.

2. Invest in Building Knowledge & Skills

“If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll keep getting the results we’ve always got”

If we’re not happy with our life or our financial situation, and we’re serious about doing whatever it takes to create a better life for ourselves, then it would be wise to invest in building and improving our knowledge and skills needed to make changes.

To improve our knowledge we must be willing to learn.

To improve our skills we must be willing to put what you’ve learnt into practice, again and again.

3. Invest in Relationships & Networks

“No man or woman is an island”

We are social beings at heart. Interacting and sharing with others is where we get a lot of nourishment and fulfillment in life. We are all, in one way or another, interdependent and interconnected.

Investing in our relationships and networks makes a lot of sense if we want to improve our lives and achieve our dreams. It’s within these relationships and networks that a lot of information is shared and where new knowledge can be gained.

4. Invest in Self-Development

“To make changes in our lives we need to be willing to make changes in ourselves”

We can be our own worst enemies, and often times there’s a fine line between whether we succeed or fail. We have an abundance of opportunity throughout our lives. Each and every moment is an opportunity, and we are constantly making choices in these moments.

Habits of a lifetime can be hard to change. If we want to improve our lives we need to be willing to look at why our lives are as they are. What behaviors, attitudes and habits do we have that have led to this outcome? What actions have we taken to give us these results?

Investing in self-development will help us gain deeper insight into why we make the choices we do, and what we can do to change these if they are undesirable. If we really want to make changes in our lives, we need to begin with making the changes within ourselves.

5. Invest in our Health

“With good health we’ll be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor” 

The state of our health can determine how effective you are. The way we feel, how we behave, how we treat others, our habits, our ability to focus and be productive are all affected by our health.

The choices we make now regarding our health and well-being, will have an impact on our future health and well-being. Investing in our health means learning what it takes to stay healthy. What foods we need to eat, how much activity is necessary to keep our body fit and well, and how much rest we need in order to function at our best.

Developing healthy habits in these areas of our life will pay you huge dividends in the future. It’s an accumulation of our daily choices and habits that can greatly effect our future health and well-being. So it's important to make sure we make the right choices.

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” – Benjamin Franklin

A good measure of what our future potentially holds can be derived from our choices and actions, moment to moment. And although we can’t predict the future, we can strongly influence it through the choices we make and actions we take.

It’s up to you if you want to change your life, and a good way to start is to invest in your future.

To our success! 

Grant Aitken