The Best Investment You Can Make

This essay was written for the Makers of Sport® newsletter in May 2016. Monday Musings and Weekend Reads were the written editions of the newsletter that accompanied the podcast; the archived email is on Mailchimp. The newsletter's links and announcements are trimmed here.

We often hear about venture capital flowing around the Silicon Valley or tech scene like water. It's easy to think one can start up a company, raise funding and instantly become wealthy. Unfortunately it does not work that way.

Today though, I want to discuss a different kind of investment. Not financial investment, but an investment in yourself, rather. Warren Buffett, renown businessman and investor, once stated that the most important investment you can make is in yourself. What does he mean by this?

He certainly doesn't mean spending money on yourself, living the good life with the latest swag, frequenting the hottest nightlife spots and or acquiring inanimate objects that non-wealthy folks or those that deceive us to think they are wealthy worship. But what Buffett truly means is investing in your own knowledge, your skill set and your personal development.

It's no secret that many of the world's best entrepreneurs, leaders, historical figures and businesspeople are avid readers. This, along with failure, is a common thread amongst successful people. They have a hunger to learn—a thirst for personal development. It has been written jokingly that Nike founder Phil Knight so reveres his library that when you venture into it, you have to take your shoes off and bow.

The world of design—which is ultimately linked to the world of business as a commercial art—is an ever-changing, ever-evolving industry. Being satisfied with where you are will inevitably lead to becoming a dinosaur quickly. In fact, I once worked at a company with an individual that had been there 15 years. This person was satisfied with their skill set, their industry knowledge and their overall place in the world of design. The problem is, the industry had changed tremendously and they had not. They can had completely missed the memo.

I vowed never to be like that person. So I read. And I dislike reading. Even today. As a visual & creative individual, reading is not natural to me in regards to retaining information. But as with anything, one can learn to become good at it with practice, despite not enjoying it. Because is is necessary for growth and I'm passionate about growth.

Around 8 years ago, I made a New Years Resolution to read one book per month. I ended up reading 15 books that year and haven't stopped since. Reading and learning for me has become a habit. I make time for it daily and you should too.

"The only thing worse than not reading a book in the last 90 days is not reading a book in the last 90 days and thinking it doesn't matter." — Jim Rohn, famous author, businessman and entrepreneur.

You may think you don't have time. But consider for a moment all of the mindless moments during the day where information isn't being retained: a drive or walk to work, in the shower, cooking, lying in bed at night watching mindless television. There are plenty of opportunities to learn. I have chosen audiobooks as my medium of choice since they allow me take better advantage of all of this time. Being that you are likely a podcast listener (if not, please tell me why you are subscribed to this newsletter as I'm genuinely interested), your preference is likely akin to the audio medium as well.

I can say with confidence that reading has made me a better writer, communicator and businessperson. When reading so many books and studying so many philosophies about business, one can begin to see patterns developing in each different viewpoint, and then take those patterns further developing your own philosophies on business, strategy and self-development.

In order to be great at what we do, we must never stop learning. I recommend this week to purchase a book (or maybe an audiobook) that interests you and begin reading or listening. If you do not enjoy reading, you may not like it at first, but keep at it. Get through that first book. Then move onto the next. Maybe even set a goal to get through one book per month as I did. Or start small and vow to read 5 books in a row no matter how long it takes. Eventually with enough practice, you will begin to see the benefits of reading and pick it up as a day-to-day necessity along with brushing your teeth.

For a first book, I recommend checking out Phil Knight's new book, Shoe Dog. It is available in audiobook form (which I'm listening to), print form and digital. It's Knight telling the story of how he founded Nike in his own words. I've found it quite interesting so far and have even found an amusing pattern as discussed above regarding his philosophies. The front-runner in track has to work harder than everyone else to stay in the lead. Therefore it only makes sense that Nike as a company values the lead and continues to work hard to stay in the lead in regards to market share. [Although, Under Armour's CEO has his sites set on Nike, is younger and working equally as tenacious innovating sport so it is yet to be determined if upon retiring, Phil's work ethic and thirst for winning is deeply ingrained culturally within the brand.]

Remember as you battle through this week that becoming a life-long learner is the key to every businessperson's success. Keep that in mind as you begin (continue or even ramp up) your own journey of reading, learning and self-development.

Have a great week, y'all. Hope to see you in the Community Slack chat soon.

Cheers,

Adam