The Wisdom I Wish Other People Knew — Invest in Your Future Self

It’s the biggest and best investment you’ll ever make.

I could die tomorrow.

The idea of death, especially in my younger years, seemed quite vague. I know it could happen to me, but I felt it wouldn’t be anytime soon. I mean, who likes to ponder about death when you have your whole life ahead of you.

This is why I never connected with the term popularized by Drake in 2012 – YOLO. It creates a sense of urgency to experience your life now because you might not have a tomorrow.

This expression has already been debunked as many argue that you only die once, which means there are many days to live in between.

We are responsible for what those days will look like, and the only way to create a life you want to wake up to is to invest in your future.

This is why I choose to live for tomorrow rather than for today.

Your life should be lived by design, not default — Chris Williamson

It’s easy to go with the flow and let life take over. I’ve caught myself doing it many times.

Binging Netflix, spending too much money, eating out every day – these activities seem perfectly normal, but this unintentional consumption can rob you of your future.

Investing in your future means doing things today to reap the rewards for tomorrow.

The misconception lies in thinking it needs to be a drastic life change. This is further from the truth. The small efforts you put in will pave the way to the life you want.

• Put away the dishes and clean up the house at night, so you wake up to a lovely home the next day.
• Journal and exercise 30 minutes a day.
• Read ten pages at night.
• Plan out your meals on a Sunday.
• Book the appointments you need right away, such as a hygiene appointment with the dentist or a general check-up with the doctor.

These are all activities your future self will thank you for. It requires small changes in your everyday life.

Design your life with intention. Don’t default to the easier thing to do, or you will end up merely existing and coasting through life.

Coincidentally, this article by Jari Roomer was published recently, and he came up with valuable advice on how to read more books this year.

The big problem in America is that everyone is spending 2 – 3 hours a day watching TV. If you spend that same amount of time reading, you’ll be in the top 1% of whatever your field is.– Jack Canfield

Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else — Dave Ramsey

I wish I had bookmarked the story so I could cite it. In the story, he explains how no one questioned his life decisions when he was overweight, smoking, drinking, or working a regular job. This is the norm.

But when he changed his life and started waking up at 4 am, having ice baths, getting in shape, and living life on his terms, people began to look at him differently.

This is a perfect example of Dave Ramsey’s claim of living a life like no one else, so your future will look like no one else’s.

The context of Dave Ramsey’s quote was geared towards money as he is a financial guru. Often when I catch myself saying the expression YOLO, it is when I want to make myself feel better about an expensive purchase I’m about to make. I use it as an excuse to forget about the future repercussions.

I was able to purchase my first home in my early twenties. In my culture, leaving your parent’s home to live on your own before marriage was not the norm. But I did it because I wanted to experience life on my own before I had to share walls with someone else again.

I was able to do this by investing in my future at a very young age. When you begin early, the amount you have to put aside doesn’t need to be significant.

Start small, stay consistent, and watch your investment grow. Your future self will thank you.

The revolution begins when no is a complete sentence — Natasha Nichole Lake

Has it ever happened when you keep hearing the same message conveyed in a specific period of time? This is how it was for me and the idea of saying no. I kept coming across articles on saying no, I heard it from a friend, and I read it in a book – all within a week. It’s like the universe is screaming for my attention to receive this message. And I always listen to the universe.

Natasha shares her story on how saying no was a matter of self-preservation. You need to say no to anything that does not align with who you are and make yourself a priority. It is not selfish; it is necessary.

When you keep agreeing to events, relationships, or obligations that don’t serve you, you are wasting the time and energy of your future self.

This two-letter word holds so much power. Use it, but more importantly, say it with conviction.

My sanity is more important than the temporary, flimsy praise that comes with being willing to substitute rewards and recognition for rest and healing.

I believe the effects of investing in your future go hand in hand with living an incredible today. When you map out the life you want, get intentional with your decisions, and surround yourself with the right people, you are seizing every single day rather than letting life pass you by.

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