The Best Investment You Can Make Is In Yourself!

There's no right or wrong answer. It's all about, well, where do you see the value? What is the return that you're getting on that and is it worth the amount that you're paying? And for me, whenever I've invested money in myself, in my brain, in developing my skills, in developing my self awareness, in gaining clarity on my vision and building my confidence and building my courage, it's never been wasted. You're listening to the Circle CE Project. Welcome to the Triple CE Project, the podcast that helps you gain clarity, boost confidence, build courage so you can live life lit. I'm your host, Ryan Spence, the big lore dropout, life coach, author, speaker, lover of hoodies, hip hop and big hairy, audacious goals. If you're tired of living the life you think you should want and ready to start living the life you do want, this podcast will help you get from where you are to where you really want to be. So now with friends, I invite you to grab a drink, take a seat, and allow me to guide you towards living a life that's lit. Hey. Hey. Welcome to episode 41 of the Triple C Project with me, your host, Ryan Spencer, your life coach, author of the Triple C Method. Gain clarity, boost confidence and build courage so you can live life lit. And just the average human trying to do good in the world, trying to make a positive impact on everybody and everything. Today I'm going to talk about money. Money is a huge subject. There are so many different things I would like to dive into and I probably will do in coming episodes. Hoping to get some guests on to talk about money mindset about managing your money, about money stories. Because money, money's heavy. It's one of those things we're told not to talk about. You know, I know in some jobs, you, it's in your contract that you're not allowed to talk about how much you earn with other people, which is bullshit. It's just a way of a way of playing people off once, one against the other. And it's the reason why so many people feel end up being underpaid in comparison to the colleagues. But, but money, money is a thing. It triggers people. Everyone has their own idea of money, of what's valuable and what isn't, what's expensive and what's cheap, how you should spend it, whether you should spend it, whether you should keep it. Some people hoard money, some people just freely spend it. There are a whole host of different ways that we interact with money and money. Yeah, there's just a lot I'm just trying to think where to go. I have nothing planned for this episode, but I wanted to touch on money today and I wanted to touch on just the way that we use money. I just made a pretty significant investment in a new certification that I'll be taking coaching certification. I'll be taking in the, in the new year. But what was interesting to me when I made that investment is how it just felt really easy and calm in my body. Whereas going back a few years, spending a fraction of that money was huge deal. You know, it was. I could really feel it in your body. And these are the things when we take certain actions, they're not just in our head. You can actually feel there's a physical reaction in your body. Whether that is your parasympathetic nervous system is just keeping you nice and calm and at ease, or if you're doing something you've never done before, you know, I mean, your sympathetic nervous system kicks in and you just feel this tension, this anxiety. And it's good to recognize when you take certain actions, how that feels in your body, because you need to understand how it feels so you can determine not only whether or not you should be doing the thing, but also how you can manage it. And one of the things I do with clients is coaching is working on managing your, your nervous system. But that's another story. We'll come to that another time. Anyway, I'm going to talk a little bit about numbers. I know that can be triggering for people sometimes because we're told not to, not to talk about money. But it's my show and I can do what the fuck I like. And I think it's just helpful for you to see and understand really kind of just the value of investing in yourself. We're told that good investments are buying a house or a good investment is paying for college or university. But actually, I would beg to differ. It's not that they're not good investments. I just do not personally feel that they are the best investment, knowing what I know now. So when I went to law school, I took out a loan. Initially, I didn't have a job to go onto, so I was going to be paying my own way through law school. So I took on what at the time was called a professional studies loan. And that money was the most amount of money that I had seen in one place. And it was, and I'll talk in US Dollars because I know from the, from the analytics, most of my, most of you listeners are in and around the US and also everyone understands US is the world currency, whether we like it or not. But it was equivalent of around US$30,000 and that was huge because I knew that I had to pay that back. And at the time I actually had no idea how I was going to do that. But I was confident enough in myself that I would get a gig, I mean get a, get, get a law job that, that would allow me to do that. And I did. Literally. I was due to start law school on the Monday and on the Friday I had my interview at the firm I ended up joining and found out that I had got a place. So the £8,000, which again, I don't know what that is, about US$10,000 that I was actually going to pay for law school itself was going to get covered. The money I was going to need for living expenses, some of that was also going to get covered. So the pressure was immediately taken off in terms of paying that back. So I took the additional money still and I used it to go traveling, which was amazing. And that was traveling. It was probably the first real investment in myself, sort of outside of education. Because from the outside looking in, traveling would seem like a frivolous way to spend thousands of dollars, dollars. You know, you're going to go and spend six months going around the world and drinking and partying and seeing stuff. I mean, wouldn't that be better invested in stocks and shares and sort of solid assets that are going to generate income? And I think no, because the memories of what I learned in that on traveling, the people that I met, the things that I saw, the way that it opened my eyes to possibilities, to opportunity was invaluable. Like no amount of money could have bought that. You know, it was, it was the best way that I could spend that money, I could invest that money. And that was probably, as I say, the what, what I would class is the first real investment in myself. Not in something that people said that I should do, not in something where the aim was to go on and get a job or sort of follow a well chosen path, but it was something that was going to value me internally. I mean create new thoughts, create new ideas, show me a whole new way of living. And I didn't really think it, think that at the time, but looking back in hindsight, that was definitely a point. And I had a fantastic time. I actually it was traveling that made me realize that Singapore was where I wanted to be, I wanted to live. One day I remember sitting by Singapore river, there's a statue of Thomas Raffles and I was sitting there talking to my, then my girlfriend at the time and saying that of all the cities I've been to around Southeast Asia, and I love Bangkok, I loved Kuala Lumpur, big crazy cities. But being in Singapore, I felt like I could live here. I felt like I was, I was home, I could be happier. And again, without even thinking about it, I probably manifested the opportunity to eventually one day move and live in Singapore, which is what I did anyway. Veering our topic a little bit, I was talking about investing in yourself. So that's probably the first sort of real investment in myself. But I don't really think I made any others for a long time after that. What I did was as I made money in law and as I got unhappy in law, I spent more money on material things, you know, on expensive designer clothes. I remember the first, the first time I started as a trainee, I built myself my first expensive watch. And, and I, in many ways I was trying to fit in to the world that I thought I. In the way that I thought I needed to fit in. Wear the nice thing, wear the right things, you know, I mean, look the part. But also as I progressed through my career, I was trying to make myself feel better, give myself a reward for the sacrifices that I was making and for the fact that I was unhappy. So I was spending money, but I wasn't necessarily investing it in myself. So I look back on that time, not necessarily as a waste, but not as, not as, not always as the best way of using the money. And knowing what I know now, I could have used that money in so many other ways. And I'm not talking about the traditional ways of investment either, you know, but I also had nice holidays, I got married. I mean, we had kids. All of those cost money. And that was all great, but it wasn't until I was on the way out of big law and I decided that I wanted to be a yoga teacher. I wanted to help people in the position that I'd been in. Unhappy lawyers, unhappy people in corporate who were trying to find their way. I wanted to help them by teaching them yoga because yoga had been a big part of my life and it really helped me. So the next big investment in myself was my yoga teacher training, which is actually significantly less than the $30,000 I'd spent on law school for and a little bit less than I spent on traveling. I think when I worked it out, it was probably around US$3,000, still a significant amount of money. But again, it felt good in my body to do that because I could see what it was going to give me. And actually it gave me a whole lot more than I expected. And that $3,000, I'm still reaping the benefits of that now, the effects of that now, just the way, not physically in terms of learning the postures and learning how to teach, but just again, the thought process, the path that it took me down, the ideas that it gave me, the. The different ways of looking at things and the knowledge that it brought me and also the knowledge that I realized I didn't have. So much was gained from spending that money on that thing, on that training. And after that, there were other little bits of investments that I made as I kind of started to delve into the world of online business and start to try and find my way as to how I wanted the next phase of my life to be, how I wanted to be as a yoga teacher, the type of business I wanted to run, the way that I wanted to make it, make it work. Bits of training on creating a course or on sales or marketing and that kind of thing, and they're all sort of smaller amounts of money again. And that felt like, okay. But once I decided I wanted to coach, once that became apparent to me that that was the path I wanted to go out, the next big investment for me was my first coaching certification. And that was a big amount of money. Hey, I'm interrupting myself to give you this short message. Now, if you're listening to this pod, you're likely looking to change your life. Here's the thing. Transformation doesn't happen by doing what you've always done. It happens when you change your thoughts about what's possible for you. My book, the Triple C Method, helps you do that by giving you the tools and strategies to stop living a life of lethargy and start living life lit. Described as a transformational toolkit and the book I wish I'd had when I decided to leave corporate. The Triple C method will change how you see yourself and how you live your life. Available now as paperback, ebook and audiobook, read by yours truly. Head to iamrinespence.com book or over to your favorite bookseller to grab your copy today so you can stop living a life of lethargy and start living life lit. I was so that was US$10,000 I spent on my first coaching certification. And there was a little bit of that sympathetic nervous system kicking in. A little bit of that. Ow. That's a. That's big amount of money. And it wasn't something that I did lightly it took me a little bit of time to decide that, yes, this was the right thing for me to do, this was the right place to make that investment. And again, it is still paying dividends now. It was an investment in myself. It's knowledge that I have that I would always have, that I would always carry forward, that infuses the way that I coach, the way that I help people. And again, anyone from the outside looking in would look at that amount of money and say, well, that's crazy. Why would you spend that much money? But looking back, I spent far more than that on law school. You know, people spend far more on that, on a whole host of other things which do not give them the value, do not give them the insights, and do not give them the, I don't know, whatever it is, the peace of mind, the calm, whatever it is that investing in that certification gave me, not to mention the value that it brings to the clients that I work with by having those tools, those concepts, those frameworks, in addition to my own experience, to help them through whatever it is that they're going through. So that was huge. Subsequently to that, I invested in my own coaching. So I'd had a life coach before. And the level of investment then was, was not at the levels where it was just like, you know, that's a huge amount of money. It was, it was, it was a good amount of money, but not, not crazy. But then I got a coach so I could have a coach alongside the certification I was doing, because I wanted to be going. I wanted to have gone through the framework I was being certified in so that I could better understand my clients when I was taking them through the same framework. Because again, one of my values is. One of my core values is integrity. And I didn't feel right taking my clients through something I hadn't been through myself. So I'd had coaching before. It was valuable, it was really powerful. It really helped me. And so now I stepped into another area of coaching. And that coaching was, I think, around eight, eight and a half thousand US dollars. And again, that coaching was powerful. Even though I'd been coached before, even though I was now working as a coach, having a coach alongside that was super powerful. Because the power of having coach is that they can see things that you can't see because you're in it, you're in the midst of what you're doing. And even when you know tools and concepts and you've helped yourself get out of sticky situations and helps yourself get on the path to where you Want to be having somebody from the outside looking in, they can see things that you can't always see. And they can, they can effectively encourage you and guide you to go deeper within yourself to find the answers. So again, outside looking in, spending eight and a half thousand dollars on the coast, that's crazy. Like, who does that? You could buy a small car with that. You could go on a really great holiday with that and have money left over. You could go on a shopping spree. You could go, you know, there's lots of other things that you could do. But for me, none of those things would have given me what that coaching experience gave me. And all of these things compound, you know, the foundation of everything was my yoga teacher training. But then beyond that, there was the coaching certification. Then beyond that was my own coaching, my own life coaching. Then after the life coaching, I invested in a business coach. And again, that was another huge investment. I believe. The first round of my business coach was four and a half thousand dollars, I think. And then the next stage was another six, I think. I ended up working with her for around a year. And again I got into business knowing I wanted to coach and having those skills and then realizing that there were all of these other things which I didn't know, which is the same for a lot of entrepreneurs. As I found out, as I have these conversations. Sal marketing, I mean, just. And just figuring out how you want your business to be, because leaving the corporate world, you still have a certain idea of business the way that you've been conditioned. But of all the things I learned from my business coach, and there were many valuable things which have really just helped me not only personally, but helped me carry the business forward. It was learning that I can do this any way that I want to do it. I don't have to work certain hours, I don't have to do things in a certain way. Like, however, the business is an extension or can be an extension of me. I infuse myself within that and I build it in the way that I want it to run and build it in the way that I want to live my life, how I want to help my clients. And the. So the value that I got from working with my business coach, again, far exceeds the amount that I invested in working with her. And anyone, like all of the others would have looked at that and said, that's just ridiculous. Like, what are you paying somebody that amount of money for? And again, it all comes back down to, well, where do you see the value? What do you see the value in do you see the value in spending, I mean, hundreds or thousands of dollars on an expensive designer handbag or spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on, I mean, some vintage bottle of wine or champagne or on that hotel or on. I mean, whatever it is, there's no right or wrong answer. It's all about, well, where do you see the value? What is the return that you're getting on that? And is it worth the amount that you're paying? And for me, whenever I've invested money in myself, in my brain, in developing my skills, in developing my self Aw awareness, in gaining clarity on my vision and building my confidence and building my courage, it's never been wasted. It's never felt wasted. And the value that I've achieved from that has always been far greater than the amount that I've paid. So that's just a counter through some of the larger investments that I've made. I mean, they'll be. And there have been others, and there will be more because each time I do becomes easier. It feels more natural in my body. But also I have evidence of the value that I've achieved from the time before. But even beyond that, my brain works differently now. So that even when I invest in a course that maybe doesn't work out the way that I want it to work out, for whatever reason, and it isn't always the fault of the course. It's just maybe I got something at a time when it wasn't the right time for me, or it just doesn't speak to me, or it just doesn't resonate for me. I always get something from it because my brain now works in. This is an investment in myself. So if I've invested in myself, what am I going to get from that investment? So I'd always take something away. Even if it's the, even if it's the worst course ever, there will be some lesson, something of value that I take away from that investment because that's now how I look at things. So my money story now is different, but I've really worked on my money story. I've worked on it consciously and I've also worked on it subconsciously with a hypnotherapist. I've read various books on money and so, yeah, this whole concept of money, it's, it is complex and there's a lot of moving parts and it's a. It's a huge topic and it's something that I, I say I'm going to explore further as I continue through this episodes, both by myself and with Guests as well. But I thought it'd be helpful just to a be open with you on some of the numbers, just to show you that as a coach, I invest in coaching. I believe in the value of coaching and that's why I do that. And the value that I get from coaching far exceeds the amount that I invest in coaching. Because I think particularly when you haven't had a coach before, it can be scary to think about the amount of money that you might need to hand over to get the help that you need. And then you're questioning, but is this going to be worth it? Is this going to help? I mean, is this going to be a value? So I want to let you know that those feelings are all fine and all perfectly normal. But what I would ask you to do in those situations is just think to yourself, how much are you potentially going to invest? And if you don't invest that, what is the cost that you're going to pay? Because if you're somewhere where you don't want to be and you've been there for a period of time, what is that costing you? What's that costing you in terms of your time, in terms of your energy, in terms of your well being, and balance that against what the investment is in the thing which could potentially help you. Whether it's a coach, whether it's a therapist, whether it's certain education, studying, whatever it may be, start to just reframe the way that you look at money. Because we've been conditioned, as I say, to look at it as though there are certain things which are strong, solid investments. There are certain things which are just a waste of money. But no one's the same. Everyone has a different perspective on money. Everyone has a different idea of what is valuable to them. And for me, investing in myself has never gone wrong. It's never, never been a failure. Even if I never worked as a coach, the lessons that I've learned from doing certifications, from being coached myself, from being working with a, with a speaking coach, from maybe working with sales and marketing, and all of those things are all things which just helped me in my everyday life, regardless of whether I ran a business as a coach or not. So I'm going to leave you there because money is something which I say we could talk about forever. But as I say, I just want to leave you with the idea that investing in yourself is the best investment that you can make. I'm going to leave you with that. I want you to sit with that and I want you to just Think about where and when you've invested in yourself and what value you've received from that and carry that forward. Cool. And as always, I'm here to help you. Obviously listen to this podcast is I hope giving you a huge amount of value for nothing, for free, for gratis. And I will continue to do that. You can also grab hold, grab a copy of the book Triple C Method and if you want to have that one to one support that accountability. If you want to experience the power of coaching as I have and as I say, it's really accelerated my life and also the life of my clients. The one not book a call and let's get on the let's get on call and have a chat and you can find out a bit more about how I can help you with whatever situation you're going through. How I can help you get from where you are to where you want to be. How I can help you start to see things differently, start to see what's possible for you where you can't necessarily see it for yourself. Taking on 1, 2, 1 clients. Got a few more spots before the end of the year, so go to imransports.com coaching and you can read all about what I do. And you can also book yourself a consultation call there. Consultation call is free and even the consultation call has been said to just blow people's minds, to change their perspective on things. It's also been described by one client as the best hour that they have spent on themselves in a long time. So you've got nothing to lose by getting on the phone, booking a consultation call and let's chat. Thank you for listening. I will catch you again next week for another episode of the Triple C project. And until then, stop living a life of lethargy. Start living life Lit. Thanks for tuning in. But before you go, the weight of limiting beliefs is heavy. It literally weighs you down and keeps you stuck in that life of lethargy. I know. It's why I stayed in Big Law for so long and it's why so many of my clients don't believe they can do the things that they want to do. But what causes those limiting beliefs? It's a lack of confidence. Lack of confidence in the belief that you can do the things that you want to do. And I've got something for that. It's my confidence journal. It's six journal prompts that I created that I've used to help me get from where where I am to where I want to be, to help, to give me the belief to do the things that seem outside of my control, outside of what I can do. If this sounds like you, you need to get your hands on the journal. Best thing about it, it's free. All you have to do is head to iamrynespence.com hit the button for Confidence Journal and get your copy today. It's going to help you start to reframe your thoughts and get you thinking about what you can do instead of focusing on what you can't do and shed that load of limiting beliefs that you don't need to be carrying. See you again next week. And until that time, stop living a life of lethargy and start living life lit.