Invest in Yourself – Pay Yourself First

Good morning Dinks. Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you had a different job, if you made more money or if you lived in a different city?  Well, let me ask you a question – Why are you daydreaming about it and not (yet) doing anything about it?

The best way to find personal happiness and achieve financial freedom is to take your life into your own hands.  So often people have dreams but they don’t achieve them because they wait for their dreams to come to them.  This is not helping anybody achieve anything.  The best way to find happiness, both personally and financially, is to take action and make your dreams happen on your own.

Decide what you want and make it happen

After working in a bank branch for over a decade I finally came to the reality that I was bored. I wanted to make changes in my life to be a happier person, but I couldn’t do that until I decided what I wanted and what makes me happy.  The first thing that I wanted to change was my career.  I didn’t know it at the time but this change would snowball into a handful of other changes my life including my health, my money and happiness in my relationship.

Making a career change at 32 years old was definitely scary but after being unhappy for so long I finally decided to stop thinking about the repercussions and start doing everything that I love.

Even if it’s a bad idea, don’t look back

That was almost three years ago and I have to tell you that I have never been happier.  Ok that isn’t exactly true – I loved being 17 in high school and I would give anything to go back to my last year of high school.  So let me rephrase – After making changes in my life and making a career change I have never been happier in my adult life.

At 30 years old I went back to school and at 32 (almost 33) I finally found my dream job.  I am happier now than I was three years ago, but that’s not to say that the transition wasn’t hard.  I had a lot of long days and even more sleepless nights, but it was all worth it in the end because now I like what I am doing every day.

Have you ever heard someone say “Pay yourself first”?

Investing in myself and paying for school was the best decision that I ever made.  But if making a career change is not on your personal to-do list then pay yourself first and make your other dreams come true.

Pay yourself first means that before you pay your bills and rent every month you put some savings aside for yourself first.  It also means that before you please other people you make sure that you are happy.  This is not to say that you need to turn into a totally self absorbed monster overnight, it’s just to say that you should consider your own happiness before you consider the feelings of other people.

Photo by miggslives

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.