Big week in our house, Friends.
Some of you who are connected to me and my family might have seen my wifeās post on LinkedIn: she earned her MBA and got the diploma in the mail this week.
Canāt tell you how proud our entire family is of her ā she completed it part-time over the last 4 years (which included taking classes during COVID) while also working full-time and handling the typical duties of a Mom to our 4 children.
Itās an amazing accomplishment ā especially when you factor in that she had spent over 20 years of her adult life as a stay-at-home parent away from the office and classroom.
In her post she shared a quote that Warren Buffet has said on numerous occasions in different forms:
āUltimately, there's one investment that supersedes all others: Invest in yourself. Nobody can take away what youāve got in yourself, and everybody has potential they havenāt used yet.ā
Itās an important message, and one we all often overlook.
We can choose to spend our time and effort on so many things.
Often times we choose to waste that time or devote it to things that will not accrete in value.
But an investment in ourselves is not something that can easily be taken away.
In my wifeās case, it was not only the investment in time she made in understanding the classwork that mattered. It was the investment she made in developing skills while she collaborated with classmates, presented her point of view on case studies and juggled many priorities that has paid dividends for her both professionally and personally.
This was a team effort, Friends ā not going to lie. But our entire family saw the joy she was getting from this pursuit and the pride she took in the investment she was making in herself ā so we gladly invested along with her.
It also took a hell of a lot of courage to complete it and see it through, because the easiest thing for her to do would have been to give up. There were so many excuses that arose along the way that could justify quitting or putting things on pause.
Familyā¦Healthā¦Workā¦Travelā¦COVIDā¦Self doubtā¦Burnoutā¦Argumentsā¦.Tears... Laughterā¦Concertsā¦Sports gamesā¦Aging parents needing attentionā¦Kids learning to driveā¦College visitsā¦College applicationsā¦Bumps and bruises only Mom can kiss and make betterā¦
Nevertheless, she persisted.
And while we all reveled in what that piece of paper represented at the end, we should not forget the catalyst that put it all in motion:
One day my wife made the decision to bet on herself.
Buffet talks about the importance of investing in yourself, but I think the courage to do it, to place a bet on yourself in the first place, is the bigger and most critical part of the process. And probably the hardest thing to do.
Before you can invest in yourself, you have to be willing to bet on yourself.
If you are not willing to bet on yourself, no one else will.
That means you have to be willing to sacrifice. You might have to take less money. You might have to take a lesser title. You might have to struggle. You might have to skip things you normally wouldnāt skip. You have to be willing to face doubt. Be willing to set and meet expectations. Be willing to be wrong and open to failure.
In order to bet in yourself, you need to be confident in your talents.
You might have all of the support around you to make it work. You might have other people telling you to do it. You also might have other people telling you NOT to do it. You might have a whole village of supporters that believe in you.
But none of that really matters.
Friends, in order to tap into that potential you have in you that you have not even realized, you first have to the courage to place a bet on you.
Would you do it? Will you do it?
Bet on yourselfā¦then invest in yourself.
Have a great one!
XOXO
Dave
And now a few things to make you smarterā¦
Investors didnāt expect 2023 to be the bumper year for returns it ended up being. Despite tightening monetary policies and surging bond yields, equities continued their strong performance (helped hugely by enthusiasm around the potential of artificial intelligence).
This has boosted wealth creation, and the growth of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) in the world. This map uses data from the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2024.
What science says about optimizing this important mid-afternoon recovery tool.
There have been massive gains in productivity over the past century. Output per worker increased by almost 300% between 1950 and 2018 in the U.S. The standard American workweek, meanwhile, has remained unchanged, at about 40 hours.
So why are people still working so hard for so long?
I donāt know what it means to be a āYelp Eliteā or if it is of any benefit to you on LinkedIn, but if you like pizza, you should check this one out.
With my Gen X cabinet full of bitchinā advisors, weāre gonna do what we do best: point out societyās flaws, work hard to work less, fire up the glorified blog, a.k.a. Substack, roll up our sleeves for another tattoo, and tell our grown-ass children to make their own goddamned mac and cheese.
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