How I Would Invest $1000 If I Were In My 20s

From an Asian upbringing, we are often instilled the mindset where a degree (or any other sort of formal education) is often seen as the golden ticket to success. Noting the success of the people around me, I found myself questioning the conventional wisdom. 

In this blog post, I want to share my personal journey of discovering the importance of self-investment and how it has transformed my perspective on wealth and success.

Shifting My Mindset

First of all - I am not belittling those who chose to invest in a formal education. For those who may not know, I have a formal education as well. That said, we should not be conform to the mindset that a formal education is the golden ticket to success. After all, I am sure we all know of people without college degrees and ended up being wildly successful in their own rights.

My mindset started to change when I asked myself this question.

If I were to spend four years (the typical duration for a University degree), mastering a single skill set and investing all of the school fees into paid courses, mentorship, etc. - how vastly different my life would be?

This notion that I could surpass those with formal education by focusing on personal growth and skills acquisition ignited a fire within me. I realized that our earning potential wasn't limited by a piece of paper, but by our willingness to invest in ourselves.

Education As A Game Changer

However, the reality is this.

Most of us don't know what we want in life - which is why we then chose the path of formal education. And we hope that during the four years, we somehow figure out what we want to do.

We then get our first job - which later become our comfort zone and we stopped pushing ourselves to get more self-education.

If you are reading this - examine if this is true.

After we come home from work, we would just end up watching Netflix, resting in bed, scrolling Facebook, Instagram, etc. The same goes for our weekends as well. Or perhaps, for those who are workaholics, end up still working after office hours.

The point is this: After our formal education, very few of us invest our time into self-education.

A business entrepreneur once shared with me this:

As an employee myself, I couldn't agree more.

Yes - we have the obligation to give our 100% to the company from 9-to-5. But when it comes to after 5pm, put your 100% into our personal growth.

In fact, as you focus more on your personal growth - the contribution to your company can vastly increase as well.

To give you an example - I have a keen interest in business building. To which, I apply the same concepts in my company as well - allowing us to free up the capacity to do more.

The Compounding Effect of Skill Sets

Be laser focus and specific of the skill sets you intend to acquire.

For myself, I paid close attention to income skill sets - as it unlocks the opportunity for "skill stacking".

So what exactly is skill stacking?

Well, for example - if you bought a book for $20 and implemented the concepts within the book, and made $50. You can reinvest that earnings into your next book and implement more advanced concepts. Eventually, you slowly build up towards getting courses and mentorship to accelerate your earning potential.

Now, imagine if you do this for four years (the typical period of a formal degree) - I would say it is highly likely your earning potential will far exceed those with a formal education.

So if you are asking me where to invest your $1,000...

...well, the answer is in the mirror.

Conclusion

Embarking on our journey of self-investment will be nothing short of transformative. I've come to realize that financial success isn't solely determined by traditional paths but by our willingness to invest in ourselves. By prioritizing personal growth, embracing lifelong learning, and acquiring valuable skills, I've opened doors to higher-paying opportunities and a sense of personal fulfillment. It's time for each of us to take charge of our own destinies, invest in ourselves, and redefine what true financial success means.