one simple rule to catapult your success

As high-achievers, we all know the importance of living below our means. Why we must spend less, save more, consume less, create more, buy less, sell more. Why we must be wary of hoarding and bringing non-essentials into our homes and our lives. Why it’s best to live an intentional and meaningful life with less, the one in which we are not slaves to our belongings and our vices. 

While all this holds true, it’s also important that we don’t turn into a modern version of Scrooge, and become frugal and tight-fisted about everything. Instead, it’s much better to work towards eliminating unnecessary expenses and figuring out our priorities so that we are able to spend extravagantly on the things that matter the most to us. 

The unfortunate truth is that a majority of people never really narrow down what’s truly important to them and that’s why they spend unconsciously without a proper plan. 

Along with knowing our personal priorities so that we’re able to spend wholeheartedly on them, there’s another area where we can all spend our hard-earned money without blinking an eye: self-education.

You are your greatest asset and investing in yourself is the best decision you can make for yourself any day. Author and personal finance advisor Ramit Sethi has also come up with a simple rule for this. It’s called Ramit’s Book-Buying Rule: “If you’re ‘thinking about’ buying a book, just buy it. Don’t waste 5 secs debating. Even 1 idea makes it worth it.” In his blog, he further explains, “This is true for anything education-related. If I see a course and it costs $10, $2,000, even $25,000 – I don’t blink an eye. If I need to fly across the country to meet someone for coffee, I’m on a plane.” I’m sure modern billionaires like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Jeff Bezos, as well as ancient philosophers like Epictetus and Seneca would agree with this rule. 

Bestselling author Ryan Holiday also writes, “If you want to learn and improve and grow, you have to be willing to invest in yourself. You have to be willing to acquire. Books and courses and access to information—these are part of the one buying habit you shouldn’t think twice about. In fact, it’s the one thing for which we should mercilessly cut the rest of our spending to facilitate. Because wisdom always pays for itself in the long run. It always pays you back.”

So, I would encourage you to dedicate a certain percentage of your monthly income (I recommend 10%) towards self-education and develop your own Personal Development Fund. In that way, you’ll empower yourself to buy any helpful self-education material whether it’s a book, an audio program or a course right on the spot without thinking twice.

PS: I encourage you to check out my new book “Thriving in the New Normal: An Eight-Week Program to Safeguard Your Holistic Health and Help You Grow Through Adversity” on your favorite digital bookstore. I am confident it’ll be a great resource for you in these challenging and uncertain times.