I was doing my taxes when I realized that I’ve actually been spending so much more than I thought. Like for books, events, memberships, and coaches. When my husband asked me for it, I started to feel guilty.

Not really understanding why, I decided to start funding my personal development and have a budget aside so it is an expected expense.

I am not the most organized nor the well-planned person in terms of finance, but I still do the basics.

This means I always had some kind of budget for my personal things.

After my main basic expenses, such as housing, food, and childcare, I always had the vacations tab, going out tab, and also I used to call it the “ME” tab.

This “ME” budget would include manicure, hairdresser, and in Europe, I used to call Zara expenses, which meant having some money aside to buy some kind of new clothing every month.

I never budgeted the books I bought, courses I took, or even the coaching I paid for, so it was never assumed as a need.

But let’s change the scenario here!

Personal Development should be part of your wellbeing.

There are different ways to develop ourselves, but during these times with so much going on in the world, it is good to gain clarity regarding your own self living your best life. 

What I mean about this is nowadays there is the freedom to choose who you want to be. There is the belief of “Follow your Dreams”, “Dream Big”, and “Be Yourself” now more than ever, and this can be quite overwhelming if you don’t get crystal clear on your why, on your purpose, and work on the things that matter the most for you.

We live in an era of possibilities, aiming for the next level in whatever is an area of your life you want to improve. Remember also the areas of your life you want to improve can differ depending on the timing of circumstances of your life.

And let’s face it the outcome of personal development is not instantaneous, needs a bit of work, and should be a constant in your life.

Tony Robbins used to say, build your Emotional Fitness to have a successful life.

Empowering yourself with tools and capacity to face adversity and build the confidence to decide what is aligned to your values and your WHY. 

This is magical!

So when I think about the money we should spend on Personal Development, it is worth every penny!

No guilt or regret!

Now, of course, there are different levels of what you can choose.

There is an article I found in Entrepreneur which says:

Neither investments nor personal development are cookie cutter but 3 percent of your gross salary is a good rule-of-thumb for reinvesting in yourself. If you are running your own business or have ambitious goals for your future it would be much more. Three percent should be the baseline for your personal development whether through books, courses, personalized coaching, new experiences or relationship building.

I found this very interesting. Not sure about the 3 percent, but it is good to know that we all should have a tab in our finance planning called “Personal Development”.

So let’s see which areas we should be investing our time and money in:

Books

There are different ways you can have access to books: online, kindle, Audible, or even buying the book. Also in the books section, I normally include my planner or journal just because I like to buy the ones that help me shift my mindset as well.

Also Read: 10 Books That Made Me Fall In Love With Personal Development

Courses or Masterminds

I feel this one is one of the most difficult to choose. There are so many courses and masterminds out there that could be difficult to decide which one to go for. I would recommend exploring, consulting, and following your intuition. This is about an investment in yourself, so there is no right or wrong.

Also, there are plenty of masterclasses online, which is good to attend before you sign up for some type of program or specific course.

If you go to conferences, or special events even for free, there is always BONUS, which is so valuable as they are normally courses or parts of big programs.

Conferences

1 paid per year – I would recommend in person but in COVID-19 times, take the virtual options, also since it is less expensive, you can attend more and give access to the content. But the networking lowers significantly.

1 free per year – There are plenty of options online, not so much in person, so it is the time to take advantage of the world being set virtual. Most of the programs have a streaming option, low cost, or for free. An example was the Unstoppable event led by Jamie Kern Lima with her book launch with all the top influencers in the personal development space. It was great.

Coaching

Group – Pick one, and there are several, like monthly, weekly, really depends again on the program. Also, it is very common to have programs for 3 months. 

1:1 – The minimum recommended is 2 months, about 8 sessions – and this could vary from coaching area, market, etc, but I would say it is one of the most valuable time you can spend in your personal development, as it is only focused on you.

Networking (free or not)

I feel relationship-building can be possible in other types of activities. Social media, events, and also group coaching could be a great way to meet people with mindset alike. Masterminds are targeted to a topic but are very powerful to networking as well.

  • Meetups
  • Book Club
  • Others

Podcasts/Blogs

Free, at least for now. I remember paying for having access to specific blogs, like a membership, but not anymore.

Social Media Influencers

What I mean about this is to follow the influencers in the space of personal development you like in Social Media, and normally they deliver Lives, Facebook groups, Q&As, and other types of events for free. They are not deep dive, but very good.

Like for example, Tony Robbins has quite a few challenges, and during that time, there is so much valuable content you can have access to.

Please consider this process, merely a guide, and it is very dependent on the niche of personal development, market type, country, and also the credibility of the providers of some services/events.

The main message here is to get started to invest in yourself and budget it.

I created a free template for you to plan your expenses regarding your personal development for the year.

 

Let me know if you have any questions you have regarding the options I’ve given!

 

Take care always,

AnnaJo

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