It is the end of the year and one of the things I am working on is my expense report that I keep personally that I will send to the CPA in a few weeks. This report includes all of the items that fit outside my business accounting that is managed by our professional property managers within the real estate portfolio.
On this expense report I have a couple of line items for personal development. One of the line items is books. It could be audio and actual books. Another line item is coaching. And the last one is more of a general category, catch all if you will, for all of the other things I consider personal development. This includes seminars, subscription services for certain products, etc.
I personally don’t know the impact of all of these things from a tax perspective in the overall picture, however, I do know they are write offs/deductions I can claim.
Why is this number important to me? It really dates back to about a decade ago when I heard this quote for the first first time from one of my first mentors Jim Rohn. He said this:
“Your income rarely exceeds the investment you make in to your personal development”.
Another great quote of his is this one:
“Formal eduction will make you a living, but self education will make you a fortune”
John Maxwell, another mentor of mine and one of the most prolific authors on leadership in history also talks about how personal development and personal growth is one of the main factors in his life that has contributed to his success.
Each year it is up to you to decide how much you want to grow and in what areas you want to grow in.
For 2022, one of my vague goals that I didn’t have much measurement around, other than I wanted to learn more about it. I made the commitment to understand fiscal policy more. I wanted to understand how the overall economy and money systems works. Primarily from a real estate perspective, but over all. After one year of being totally focused on this. I understand money and investing a lot more than I used to. It is a commitment that I will maintain. However, I do need to establish some measurable achievements around it in the coming year.
If I haven’t convinced you already. Earl Nightingale said it this way.
“You can become an expert in any field you want within five years, by studying that chosen field one hour a day”
And lastly, Brian Tracy said it this way.
“For every 1 dollar you spend on your self-growth and development, you add $30 to your bottom line.”
How much money should you invest?
Well, lets be honest in todays world with Youtube, the internet, and social media, there is a lot of content out there for free. But if you want to really learn you have to do it all. Which is consume the free, buy the books and resources, and ultimately pay someone who can teach you what you are trying to learn.
Darren Hardy says invest no less than 10% of your income towards this area of your life. I personally think it just depends one what you are trying to do.
But I do recommend this though.
Read no less than two books a month at a minimum.
Listen to a podcast for an hour a day on some topic you are trying to learn, not to be entertained.
Attend in person or virtually a seminar/workshop two times a year.
I can tell you personally that I invested in my formal education. I have an associates degree in electronics and a Masters Degree in Business (MBA). And those things helped me get on the right track. But it wasn’t until I started investing in my own self education and personal development that my income started jumping significantly.
To your success and your future.
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