Recently, in an article in Forbes magazine, Warren Buffet spoke about a good investment strategy. Briefly, Buffet’s recommended strategy is to find a solid business “with a durable, competitive advantage, and available at a price that makes sense,” one that is not designed to get anyone rich quick, but will increase in value steadily over time.
This is a solid plan for investing your dollars, without doubt. Buffet concludes his article, however, by pointing out that the most important “business” to which you should apply this strategy is the business of you. According to Buffet, “ultimately, there’s one investment that supersedes all others: Invest in yourself.” He then relates a story about his own inability to speak in public. To overcome his lack of skill in this area, Buffet invested in a training course on public speaking. Gaining this new ability empowered him in both his work life and his private life. Buffet recommends identifying your own weak areas, then taking the time and money to address them.
Investing in your own skill development, through training, is a strategy that will continue to pay dividends for decades. Each skill mastered, be it a new software application, the understanding of solid management strategies, or achieving a certification, such as Project Management certification, is a marketable assets with current and future employers. Achieving any sense of mastery, too, builds confidence and a deep sense of our own competency, which can help us establish our value in a competitive job market, or even in our personal lives.
It is worth noting, in a time when Googling for answers on such topics as replacing an old fuse or the fastest route to Chattanooga, taking the time and investing the capital to seek in-person training, from an expert in the subject matter, is more likely to create a true mastery of that material. A qualified instructor can explain things in a way that will increase depth of knowledge and retention of the subject matter, identify trouble spots, answer any questions, show you new tricks and tips you didn’t even know were an option, and even help translate your new skills into real world application.
Certainly, spending your resources of time and money to increase your own skill levels is not one that will allow you to, next week, retire a comfortable billionaire. Nevertheless, making the investment in yourself, especially through skills training, is one that will undoubtedly pay off richly, in both your earning potential and the quality of your life, in the long term.
Not sure where to start? Check out AdvantEdge Training & Consulting’s Microsoft Skills Assessment, or check out our current calendar of computer and professional development training courses, to see exactly how you can make this priceless investment in yourself. (We even offer Public Speaking courses, if you think yourself similar to a young Warren Buffet.)
To read the full text of Buffet’s article, please click here.
