Why I Spent $29,402 on Personal Development This Year
So yeah… Even when I wrote this title, I did a double-take.
Almost $30,000 on JUST personal development!?
Plus, NONE of this was on products, skincare, supplements, books, technology, business costs, or, to be honest, anything even tangible!
Every dollar of the $29,402 was spent just on learning — so coaching, courses, and certifications.
Before you start to criticize how I could’ve invested that money, grown it to $650,000 in 40 years, helped a child with a cleft lip or even fed an entire village in Africa (shut up, Brenda) — let me explain myself.
Why I invested so much in my personal development, and why you should too.
Flash From The Past
A year ago, living in New York City with a population of over 8 million people, I’d be walking through Times Square, shoulder to shoulder packed with thousands of people — yet, I still felt alone.
Don’t get me wrong, I was still going clubbing with friends on the weekends, having happy hours with co-workers, and my schedule was packed with enough bottomless brunches to make a sorority girl jealous. But something I couldn’t explain in my life was missing.
I felt the same as everyone else, and I hated that.
All I knew was that I wanted to do something more in life.
To be something more.
I wanted to wake up in the morning excited to impact others’ lives and build a network of like-minded people that I can connect with.
But I didn’t know where to start.
Given that I had no time or money to invest in myself, I did what most people do with their dreams — nothing.
But that all changed in April 2020.
You know what happened. I don’t even need to say it, but the whole world was in shock and up in flames.
If humanity were ever to end, this is what it would’ve felt like. Nothing was the same ever again, and no one believed it was happening.
It was truly devastating and shocking.
Robert Downey Jr. died at the end of Avengers: Endgame.
Just kidding.
IT WAS THE FREAKIN CORONAVIRUS!
You know, the whole world going into quarantine, millions of people in hospitals, toilet paper going for $60 a roll?
Either way, when this happened, I was fortunate enough that I could move back home with my parents, who live in Virginia.
I bet you $29,402 is less than a year in New York City rent.
What did this mean for me?
The lack of monthly rent and the shutdown of my social life gave me the reset I needed to become the person I am now.
Fast forward to the present — I have been featured in NBC, FOX News, CBS, USA Today and have become a personal development coach, three-time CEO, two-time author, certified neuroscience and neuro-linguistic programming professional, thought leader, and motivational speaker.
And I want to share this path to growth and success with you too.
Can’t I Find Information Online, For Free?
Sure, there are tons of free and dirt cheap resources online to help with anything. Why would anyone even spend money on personal development?
The internet is littered with information on everything you could imagine. But this in itself is not worth very much without the structure and support needed to implement what you learn. Learning like this is what I call the hard way.
The hard way is, like most, to leave your personal growth to chance - a random book here, a random video there. That's why they are often frustrated - they’re not growing as FAST as they want to! Maybe you will find a few temporary tricks that work in a year or two or maybe three, but most probably never.
Or you can do it the easy way, the smart way, and just get a curated personal development program you've been dreaming of from an expert. A course, coach, or program that helps you grow in every area of your life all year long to immediately unlock your potential and get the results inside your life and business.
To expand on this, here are five solid reasons why, in my experience, you should invest in yourself:
1. When You Pay, You Take Action
How many times have you gotten a free ebook that you never read? Or signed up for a free workshop and forgot about it?
It doesn’t matter how life-changing or valuable a course, book, or seminar is. If you’ve got no skin in the game, you just don’t take it as seriously.
By parting with your hard-earned money, you will try your hardest to finish that course or read that book, and you’ll even go above and beyond to ensure you get your money’s worth!
2. Get Advice From Experts
I got tons of value getting personal advice from someone already successful in what I want to do, like a paid 1-on-1 coach.
Of course, we can learn from books and YouTube, but getting advice directly from someone who has earned the t-shirt and done it just skyrockets your growth so much faster.
Instead of making the same mistakes yourself and learning from a thousand cuts, you can learn from others so you can avoid those mistakes altogether! Plus, you’re also able to trust your coach in a way that you can’t trust a random influencer on YouTube.
Lastly, whenever you feel stuck, they have been exactly where you are, so they can tell you what worked for them and might work for you.
3. Accountability To Follow Through
We all know what we have to do but rarely take the necessary steps to achieve our goals.
We convince ourselves we’re not intelligent, strong, or brave enough.
You see, what holds you back is not your capabilities – it’s often the ability to follow through.
That is where accountability comes in.
It is easy to fail ourselves, but it is so much tougher to fail someone else.
That is why hiring a personal trainer or having a workout buddy forces you to go to the gym even on days you don’t ‘feel’ like it!
In the same way, a coach can help you set goals, identify what’s holding you back, and show you how to move past fear.
Most people get stuck when they hit a and end up giving up. When you have that accountability, you get unstuck so that you can execute and achieve with ease.
You’ll look back at the last few weeks, shocked at how much you have accomplished!
4. Meet People On the Same Journey
You can’t expect your friends, co-workers, or even family members to understand your dreams. The goals you’re most passionate about might seem meaningless to the most important people in your life.
That is why you need to find a community of like-minded people! And the best quality people you’ll meet are the ones who are paying to be there.
Does it make a difference if the community is free or paid? Good question.
When people have to pay for a course or membership, they are:
More engaged
Demand better content, services, etc.
Very passionate about reaching their goals.
So don’t be afraid to spend some money on a live course or a certification that allows you to be part of a community! Who knows, you might end up befriending some incredible people.
5. It’s Not About You
Buying a 99-cent ebook personal development book on Kindle is easy. Shelling out “real” money for a career/business coach or a copywriting course isn’t so simple. Real money hurts a bit. Whether your pain tolerance is $100 or $1000, you feel some type of way when those dollars leave from your wallet into someone else’s
Of course, everyone has bills that need to be paid and family responsibilities that need to be taken care of. And on top of that, there are real people around the globe that are in need. When you think of all this, spending real money on your personal development might seem indulgent, maybe even irresponsible.
Maybe thinking of it this way might help:
Spending money on going out to eat with friends or family helps you relax and manage your stress. This isn’t irresponsible, but this is definitely not personal development.
Spending money on a cooking course to learn how to make delicious healthy meals — and then inviting your friends and family to your place to cook for them. That doesn’t sound irresponsible to me either, and at the same time, you’re learning a new skill!
See, when you smartly invest in your own development, it doesn’t just improve your life. You improve the lives of OTHERS around you. Personal development means becoming more educated, more productive, and a more valuable and wiser person to society.
Hopefully, with this shift in mindset, you don’t have to feel guilty about a starving village in Africa or investing every cent you have in the stock market for your retirement. As spending on your personal development is possibly the best favor, you can do for yourself.
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So… Where Did All That Money Go?
If you are curious, here are a couple of my favorite personal development investments this year that helped me tremendously grow in every area of my life.
Life & Business Coach | $7,500
Hiring a coach gave me that sense of direction and accountability I needed. By setting goals and having weekly tasks I needed to do, I built my own courses, posted consistently on social media, wrote my books, developed marketing strategies, started my coaching practice business, and even took my business to the next level.
My coach is AJ Harbinger (CEO of The Art of Charm) and he is already very successful in the online coaching niche, so besides helping me stay on track, he also gave me personal advice based on his wealth of experience.
Finding the right coach can be challenging, so make sure to do your research to find someone who is an excellent fit for you.
Don’t know where to start? You can book a free consultation call with me right here.
Courses | Total $8,500
I became obsessed with courses; I devoured everything I ever wanted to learn from topics like copywriting, personal finance, being a better writer, optimizing my life and health, and even learning how to take better notes! I could delve deeper into the ideas I found fascinating while exploring more broadly to acquire new skills to help in life and business.
Not only was I able to learn so much on all these topics, but I made a lot of new friends! From people who can give me feedback on blog posts before publishing (—cough, cough— on articles like this, thanks Michael, Rebecca, and Vadym) to others who ended up interviewing me on their podcast.
Also, I took a few cohort-based courses and love that sense of camaraderie, community, and vibrant energy you get so you don’t feel like you’re alone on this journey. Instead, these live classes motivate you to do more and try your best, alongside people who are learning with you step-by-step.
Building A Second Brain — $1,500
Write Of Passage — $4,000
Call to Action — $1,500
Optimize — $1,000
I Will Teach You To Be Rich (Personal Finance) — $500
Certifications | Total $7,000
The only actual certification I had was my undergraduate degree, but I wanted to see what more formal education opportunities were available? I always romanticized the idea of having a wall full of certificates and being a snobby scholar who wearing a monocle and debates why the Eart is flat.
Plus, you get a certain gravitas and credibility by taking an exam and getting a certificate that deems you worthy of it. Two areas caught my eye — neuroscience and neuro-linguistic programming.
Neuroscience is a subject that always fascinated me, but I felt I wasn’t smart enough to take any classes on it in college. I failed Psychology in high school and dropped out of (not once, but twice) Psychology in college — so I just thought I wasn’t cut out for any brain sciences. Years later, I wanted to prove myself wrong, and now you’re looking at a Neuroscience Professional accredited by the British Psychological Society. :)
I had heard a lot about the power of Neuro-Linguistic Programming from personal development gurus like Tony Robbins and decided to try and see what it’s all about. And I am happy I did! I learned many new techniques, exercises, and advanced language patterns to develop my neurology making me more capable and effective. Plus, I discovered how to ‘clean up’ some of my unconscious behaviors, which may have kept me from achieving my goals.
Neuroscience Professional Development Programme — $900
Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming — $2,500
Master of Neuro-Linguistic Programming — $3,600
The Real Question: Was It Worth Investing $29,402 In Myself?
After almost a year, I moved back to New York in May 2021 and now live in a beautiful large apartment with a high-rise balcony overlooking Wall Street!
Not only have I helped thousands of people reach their personal and professional goals within the last year, ironically or not, but this journey over the last year also helped me reach my personal and professional goals as well.
Now every single day, I wake up feeling EXCITED, ready to attack my day, getting more done before noon than most people get done in a whole week!
And I never have to worry about doing something more fulfilling with my life because I had found it, or more aptly — I had built it.
All this happened for me because I was an average dude who finally broke past that cycle of feeling stuck instead to reach that next level of success, abundance, and wealth — all because I invested in my personal development!
Here’s what to do next: Comment below; what is your biggest takeaway from this article?
