Investing (in my happiness)
"Invest in yourself" is a cliche bit of advice, but what exactly does it mean?
(Dogs bring me so much happiness, but this story isn’t about why owning a dog is an investment in happiness. I just liked how happy this dog looked!)
“Invest in yourself” is a fairly cliche bit of advice that gets tossed around to encourage folks to go back to school or take the leap into entrepreneurship. I’m not saying it’s bad advice, but it’s often centered around career or professional development. The language that gets used for happiness is “treat yourself.” Ehh, dislike.
Investing in your happiness isn’t about “treating yourself.” Creating a better sense of self, investing into hobbies, interests, physical and mental health can all be valuable ways to spend your money and yield significant returns.
In the spring, while having a picnic in Central Park with my husband and sister, I declared that thirty-three would be the year I focused on Erin Lowry and not Broke Millennial. For years, investing in my career dominated my life (even socially) and the time had come to focus on feeling like a balanced person. Or at least to feel I had more value than what I’d accomplished professionally.
Of course, investing in yourself — personally or professionally — comes with a price tag. I’ve spent thousands of dollars investing into hobbies, interests, and health this year.
Here’s a run down:
Started taking tap class. I had no particular love of tap and didn’t grow up doing tap, but it was a cheap dance class at a local community center and would challenge me to get out of my comfort zone. Spoiler: it has been fun and opened me up to a new community of people.
Learned a new skill in crochet. (I can’t entirely share about it now or I’ll ruin the Christmas presents of some friends and family who read this newsletter.)
Joined a flower CSA for six weeks of bouquets from a local flower farm.
Started a consistent exercise routine after years of false starts.
Hit all the necessary annual doctor visits. (Not something I was excited to do, but it’s important and so easy to skip over the ones you dislike the most.)
Started Invisalign (which I hoped would be done by Christmas, but looks like I’m heading into 2023 still having to take my trays out in restaurants and bars all over New York.)
Went to Greece with my husband, took quite a few domestic trips and a quick trip to Montreal.
Saw 15 Broadway shows, 6 concerts, 4 off-Broadway shows, and two dance performances.
(By the way, I wrote down experiences I had throughout the year in order to easily look back and remind myself of what I’d done. It’s so easy to forget and feel like, “eh, I don’t think I did much this year.”)
Beyond the financial stability to afford to pursue that list, the bigger luxury I have is time.
Time and disposable income have not always been accessible to me. The scarcity of both in my early adulthood created little quirks in how I operate today (the details of which are forthcoming in a future newsletter.) One such quirk is a scarcity mindset. While the advantage is that I more easily focus on investing and saving, the disadvantage is how easily I can talk myself out of investing into my present-day life because I’m fixated on the future.
The thirty-third birthday declaration came because I’m in a season of life in which there is a magical overlap of time and money. There is disposable income and no major financial obligations like owning a home, caring for a family member, or having children. But it won’t last forever. Even if money increases, the luxury of time may contract in the future. Or increased financial demands would mean that, even with a surplus of time, I won’t have the same ability to indulge in the way I have this year.
The groundwork, however, has been laid to pull out certain hobbies and interests to keep nourishing for my future self. Will I always be able to go see 15 Broadway shows? Absolutely not. Will I commit to seeing a certain number each year? Yes, yes I will. Will I always be tapping? No, but I know there are dozens of enrichment programs at the community center that I could take, even for a short period of time. This year has taught me to it’s critical to create a line item in our household budget to invest in ourselves personally, not just professionally.
Financial situations will ebb-and-flow as will the flexibility of time. Hopefully, when you see the Venn diagram start to overlap for yourself, you’ll feel ready to create a magical season of fulfillment.
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