Where Will You Invest Now?
 

by Bonnie Boots

With the economy turning sour and the stock market in turmoil, let's take a look at where some past investments would leave you today:

If, one year ago, you had purchased $1,000 worth of stock in Delta Airlines, you would have $49.00 today.

If, one year ago, you had purchased $1,000 worth of stock in AIG, you would have $33.00 today

If, one year ago, you had purchased $1,000 worth of stock in Lehman Brothers, you would have zero dollars today.

But if you had taken that $3,000. and invested it in your own education, in learning a new skill or expanding on a skill you already have, you would be worth more today. Worth more to your clients, worth more to your customers, worth more to yourself and your own business.

A skill, once you learn it, can never be foreclosed on or repossessed by the bank. It can't be dragged out on the lawn and sold at a bankruptcy auction or picked up by the repo man.

A skill, once you learn it, is yours forever. Even a skill learned long ago and lying dormant can be called up, like a genie in a lamp, to serve you when times are tough.

The most valuable thing you have, your most precious asset and loyal servant, is your skill set. The value of physical things is transitory. A painting you paid $5000 for a few years ago may bring $15 at a bankruptcy sale today. The value of money is transitory. The ten-dollar bill that once fed a family for a week will barely buy lunch today. But the value of your skills never diminishes. In fact, as we age and our patience and judgment improve, our skills often become more polished, more professional and more valuable.

When times are tough and money gets tight, people will pull up their purse strings and stop spending money on things they don't deem worthwhile. But people will always spend money on real skills. A really skilled copywriter will always make money. A really skilled carpenter will always have work. A skilled salesman, one who's honed his craft is worth even more when sales are harder to make.

I'm a serial learner. It thrills me to pick up a new skill, and because of that, I have never wanted for work. I think of my skill set like a treasure chest, knowing that when times are tough I can always reach in and pull out something that will get me through.

I've heard a lot of news this week about the economy and the stock market, about where people can save money and where they should be investing.

It's true that this is a time to cut back on frivolous spending and to invest in things that will bring you a good return. Nothing will bring you as good a return as educating yourself and expanding your skills. Good skills and good tools, when you invest in them, will always pay a return.

If you're working on the internet, you have skills. Being able to write for the web is a skill. Being able to design a site is a skill. Being able to drive traffic is a wonderful skill! Being able to close the sale is a skill.

Invest in those skills, expanding on them and becoming more professional in their use and they will hold you up, supporting you now and long after these troubled times have passed.

 

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