The best investment you’ll ever make is in yourself. Spending time learning new skills, soothing your heart when you need it, and laughing with people you love is unbeatable. As a woman, you deserve to slow down, move at your own pace, and feel confident and in control of varied aspects of your life.
When you invest in yourself, you invest in your future, your family, and your community. Plus it’s a chance to learn new things about yourself. The relationship you have with yourself is extraordinary & ever-changing – why not spend time to surprise yourself with new ideas and skills?
Here’s a list of 14 ways to invest in yourself.
The best part? They’re all totally free. In such a transactional world, it can feel refreshing to reflect on the impact something free has on your quality of life.
Live By Your Own Design – 14 Ways To Invest In Yourself
Run a bath and listen to music. Let the warm water, sweet smells and serene silence take you. Close your eyes, relax, and let your mind wander and daydream. Put on your favorite album or ask people you love to send you their favorite songs to curate a playlist that is bound to spark joy. If you don’t have a bath, indulge in a soft, long shower without the need to rush or hurry.
Connect to nature. Where do you live? If you live somewhere where the forest is many miles away, hop on Google maps and seek out a local park you’ve never managed to make it to . Or head to a lake or river. If you can, connecting to nature through a hike is a special way to see new flora and fauna while seeing your area from a new perspective.
Learn something new. Coding? Art History? Baking? Italiano? Calligraphy? It doesn’t really matter what it is that you wish to learn but pick something that inspires you! We live in a cool era where incredible resources are at our fingertips: the library, YouTube, podcasts, even Coursera. Apps such as Babelfish and Duolingo have tons of free content for learning new languages.
Self-Massage. Self-massage should never be overlooked! It’s a convenient and relatively easy way to ease stress and tension. You can move your firm fingers around the top of your head for a head massage or put your opposite thumb to your palm for a relaxing hand massage. Or find a small ball and use it to roll your back or feet.
Volunteer. Volunteering increases self-confidence, self-esteem, gives you a sense of community, purpose, and pride while meeting new people and learning new skills. There are incredible organizations dotted around your community just waiting for your skillset. Volunteering connects you with your local people and can genuinely make a huge difference in your community.
Host a movie marathon at home. Grab your besties and the popcorn, it’s movie night! Forgo the cinema and connect with your nearest and dearest with films that you’ve been dying to see! Perhaps an international director, or a riveting documentary about a niche topic or something made at a local film school. Select something a little out of your normal to experience something different.
Learn NVC. What’s NVC, you ask? Non-violent communication. The goal with NVC is to create harmony, deep listening and empathetic compassion. It helps transform relationships, particularly during challenging discussions. Try learning about it and applying it in the relationships in your life. It has transformed and de-esclatated disagreements with my partner to a far more harmonious and connecting level.
Practice forgiveness. Letting go and moving on is astonishingly freeing, inviting a state of peace in your mind. But, it can be easier said than done, especially if we are deeply hurt or feeling offended. Yet, it is incredibly important as it directly correlates to your stress levels and mood. The book Real Love by Sharon Salzberg (which is likely at your local library) offers wonderful guidance in practising forgiveness.
Negotiate a raise/promotion. What a time to be an adult – life is expensive! There is something incredibly empowering in negotiating a raise or promotion for yourself. One hint is keeping a little folder on your work computer of emails or documents in which you were praised for a job you did, or instances you went above and beyond or achieved incredible results. These can be used as your ammo when meeting with your manager for the raise or as examples when discussing a promotion. A lot of women struggle with this, so try to practice what you will say in the mirror or with a loved one before. If you are self-employed or an entrepreneur, can you look at raising your prices? I bet you can! Even if it’s not by a big number, little increases go a long way when you look at your finances over a month.
Free apps, baby! There are some pretty incredible free apps at our disposal. One of my favorites has to be Insight Timer – which offers free guided meditations, body scans and different talks of all lengths. Cookmate can help you organize meals and recipes. MyLife Meditation is another cool one – it allows you to select meditations based on your mood. So, like a mood ring, but for meditations!
Move your body. Daily movement is an incredible gesture of self-love and a great long-term investment you can do for yourself. No, you do not need to run a marathon (but power to you if that’s your thing!) Instead, walk, dance, do some yoga, or try a HIIT class. Youtube is bursting with incredible, completely free resources. I suggest checking out PopSugar if you are looking for a place to start!
Declutter your space. Random? Not quite! MayoClinic corroborates with me that when your space is clean and tidy, you are more likely to focus, be productive, have less stress and it is literally less for your brain to process! If you get super organized, you essentially waste less time searching for the one specific document you could have sworn was under that specific book, and get to spend that time doing something a bit more productive! Maybe you can even sell what you no longer serve you for a bit of extra cash. Win-win.
Check-in with what you’re consuming. We all must admit, at some point, we are guilty of watching a little bit of trashy, reality TV. I’ve once heard it called “junk food for the brain,” which pretty much sums it up. Yes, you should absolutely relax and if that’s what helps, go for it. But monitor it and see how you feel when you try something a little more educational or switch up screen time for reading, walking, podcasting, or playing with your pets. This extends to all media, including social media. Curate your social media pages to ensure they are all bringing up positive, motivated feelings and not leaving you to feel less than. If you don’t already, give me a follow at @embodidedartboudoir!
Practice gratitude. Enrich your life by praising and celebrating what you are lucky to have in your world. Practising gratitude can lead to better sleep, helps with your mental help, can help build healthier and more trusting relationships and overall leaves you feeling positive. You don’t need anything fancy to write 1-3 things every morning or evening of what you are truly grateful for. Give it a whirl!
Investments In Yourself Are Yours To Keep
When you take the time and conscious, patient effort to invest in yourself, it’s truly a gift. Every gift will be curated differently for every individual, but try it all until you determine what works best for you. The best thing about a gift to yourself is it’s just for you, yours to keep, & there are no returns! What is the best gift you’ve ever given yourself?
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