We cannot support other people until we support ourselves.

Unfortunately, it is so easy to put all of our energy into other people’s lives that we forget to pay attention to the most important person in our life—our self!

I went through a long period of time where I was not actively practicing self-love. I was surrounded by takers. People who were energy vampires because they always wanted something from me but never had anything to give. I eventually began to have issues with self-love and low self-esteem—both of which go hand in hand.

One day, I woke up and knew I had to do something different.

I slowly but surely eliminated the toxic people from my life. I started what I now refer to as my “self-love journey.” I picked myself up piece-by-piece. Now, I genuinely want to help others who are presently where I was then.

Sometimes it gets hard to think about our own well-being in the midst of helping, worrying about, and taking care of others. This is where being wise about our investments comes in, remembering that investment isn’t always money-related.

We invest two crucial things every single day of our lives: our time and our energy.

It’s not uncommon for us to mistakenly invest our time and energy into the wrong people, events, conversations, and situations. We have to be careful when deciding what we spend our time on, because it is the one thing that we never get back. We can lose money and get rich all over again, but the same can’t be said for time!

Here are my best savvy investing tips to remind us that, just like our money, our time and energy are valuable.

Rule #1: Don’t buy in all at once.

When deciding to invest in something, we have to know how much we want to put in. Balance is important when it comes to this. We have to know when to save some of that treasured time and energy for ourselves. As mentioned, it is so easy to get caught up in other people that we forget about ourselves. Though we may be invested in someone or something, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking space from it/them in order to share some of that energy and time with ourselves.

Rule #2: We cannot make a profit by panicking.

This is in reference to our goals. When we invest our time and energy into a goal, it is usually something we really want and are passionate about. Unfortunately, when things get scary the first thing we usually want to do is bail out. This is where most people lose their investments. If there is something we really want, we have to continue to work toward it diligently. We will never see the end result if we panic and give up every time the road gets a little bumpy.

Rule #3: Actively engage in the investment.

Complacency has the power to kill our goals. In order to be successful, we have to take it upon ourselves to always stay educated and engaged in the things pertaining to our goals and purpose. This is all about making sure we don’t let our goals get away from us. There is a thin line between actively engaging in investments and not buying in all at once. Mastering this line is the key.

Time and energy are two things in this world that can never be returned once they are expended. A smart investor knows when to invest their goods and when to hold on to them. They also know and understand that knowledge is important when it comes to their investments.

Let’s take our time and pay attention to the things that we invest in today.

Let’s ask ourselves: “Is this serving my purpose?” and go from there.

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Author: Ruby Lee Dove
Image: Dimitris Kalogeropoylos/Flickr
Editor: Danielle Beutell
Copy Editor: Callie Rushton
Social Editor: Travis May