So far we have discussed how much our upbringing influences how we approach and handle money. We have also discussed the paradigm we must have about money and the intimate role self esteem has in that paradigm as well in obtaining success. However you grew up, you muse accept that you are a person a great worth. Every individual has great potential if they are willing to work for it. View your work as an investment as that is what it is. In this chapter we will expound on various ways to invest our work. When you have extra money sitting around to invest the task of investing can be daunting as there as so many options and it can be overly complex. A good long term portfolio is well diversified to minimize risk and maximize potential. Placing you money in a savings account is very low risk but produces virtually no long term rewards. at a 0.25% interest rate, the money you put in is the money that comes out. The banks love savings accounts because it is money they can use and pay virtually nothing for. Unfortunately, so many people overuse a savings account or even worse don't save anything.

like money, our time is an investment. We work to earn money to survive. The right investment is usually the difference between long term wealth and nothing. Think about your own job and ask the question. When I turn 65, will I continue to receive any money or time for my investment. If you get virtually nothing back, then you are investing entirely in a work savings account. This is what I call a job, and not a career. You career is an investment with hopefully long term rewards. A job has an important role in our lives, predominantly as a stepping stone. We must produce a cash flow to get other things going, but cannot last long term.

Sometimes businesses try to help their employees to make long term investments. This includes establishing things like a 401k program or provide stock options. These are sound business investments by companies mainly because it allows them to attract more motivated and industrial people. Motivated and industrial people are better investments but they are people that recognize the need to invest their time, and therefore harder to to acquire. Unfortunately, offerings by the company are not usually enough. So if you have invested your time in a position that has minimal or no long term returns, what can you do?

The first option is to become self employed. Self employment requires having high self esteem because you are investing your time in yourself. You are relying solely on yourself to produce returns for your investment. Small businesses rise and fall at a tremendous rate. The ride can produce the highest highs and lowest lows. The appeal is that it empowers you to make the decisions but because you are being paid on your own merits, it brings self realization. Be careful when becoming self employed that you work in something that produces a long term investment. This is accomplished by growing your business to the point that employees can take over and run the business without your involvement allowing you to receive the profit (your income) without spending time. The company is now returning your time back to you. The other way a business can be a long term investment is in the value built over time. A growing business is a valuable business that can be sold to someone else upon retirement. As mentioned in the previously, a job has an important part in our life as it is a stepping stone. Businesses are difficult to get started because of the excessive capital and time required. They usually go out of business for the same reason. The easiest way to alleviate either problem is to not rely on your business for your personal income. When breaking into business ownership, try to start with something that can be done in your spare time. Use you job as a means of an income and view your business as a long term investment.

If you do not feel that starting your own business is not a feasible option at this time, then perhaps you long term investment may be in education. Education produces higher demand for your time by employees and opens up the door for jobs which offer long term investments. Which usually also provides increased cash flow and time for other ventures.

Another way to invest even if you only have a job is to invest in other people. Either by working with someone else to start a business, or by investing in public businesses in the stock market. This should be done by most people no matter how they invest their time. By taking control of the income you receive you can create your own long term investment, and to make it the most successful, you need to get educated and treat it like a business. Passive investing in the market will reduce your long term yield through a couple of means. when you are educated and actively involved, you can make more profitable trades, but the person who is actively aware of where his money and what it is doing is much less likely to spend it.

Finally, no matter how you invest you time and money, diversify. It is fine to have a job. That is a stable low risk investment, the backbone of any portfolio. Upon that build your long term more lucrative investments, and don't throw all of your time into one basket. It is difficult to try and run multiple businesses and is not advisable to start. Focus on one business. Grow it to the point that it can be run by someone else and the move on. Having multiple businesses is a worthy goal of anyone. A person with multiple businesses and a diversified portfolio is on very solid finanacial ground.

In summary, remember that time is a commodity. When you apply for a job, you are placing your time up for sale. Businesses bid for that time. If you are getting enough for your time, or are not yielding any long term income from that time, then it may be time for a change. Increase the value of your time by getting educated or buy up some of your own time and invest it in yourself by starting a side business. This takes considerable work, but as we have discussed in previous chapters, work is the only way to produce money and hard work now means easy money later is properly managed and invested. So be careful what you invest your time in, make sure its value will grow over time, that you can survive while getting it started, and whatever investments you do, make sure to be actively involved. The person who is not involved is less likely to make his business or investments fail. Finally, be aware of your money and investments at all times because we are much more likely to spend our money when we don't know where it is or what it is doing.

Get motivated, get educated, and get invested!

The next chapter: Chapter 6 - Having a Goal, we discuss the absolute importance of goals driving our plans. Click Here to continue.