4 Ways to Invest in Yourself

As the saying goes: you can't pour from an empty cup. And it's not just the stuff of self-help literature, it's a fact — you can't be your best and beat the competition without taking care of and investing in yourself first.

Throughout your career, it's crucial to assess where you are, and not just for the sake of ensuring you're hitting a target or a specific number. You want to ensure you're investing back in yourself, and that the investment you make translates back out into your business.

1. Learn a New Skill

What better way to invest back into yourself than by putting in the time, effort, and dedication to learning a new skill or two?

Take a beat to sit down and jot down a list of all the technical skills you'd like to improve but just haven't had the time to tackle. Maybe it's becoming a whiz at your team's CRM. How about writing great copy for your email sends? Or, this is the year you learn the ins and outs of optimizing your marketing ROI.

Let the ideas flow, and then stack-rank them with your top three picks. Next, check out online or local courses, or even tapping the shoulder of a colleague, to see how you can improve in each of those areas.

By investing in improving and diversifying your skill set, you're truly investing in yourself.

You can also pivot this to be focused more on your professional development. Are you eager to sharpen your negotiation skills? Is there a niche in real estate you'd love to learn more about? Or could your presentation skills use some tightening up?

Whatever it is, go forth and pursue it relentlessly. Not only will your real estate biz benefit, you never know — you just might find your next passion.

2. Get Involved with Your Local Real Estate Association

Your local real estate association is a wealth of access to so many opportunities that can directly translate to your day-to-day work.

By getting involved with your local association, you can get access to a wide variety of training offerings, exclusive market research and MLS listings, and opportunities to attend conferences. And, because you're rubbing elbows with fellow real estate pros, it's an excellent way to network.

3. Choose a Mentor in the Business World

You likely already have a mentor in the real estate industry (and if you don't, you should), but have you considered partnering up with a mentor in the business world?

A mentor doesn't have to be involved in real estate for you to learn things from them, especially in the world of business. Business has a vast selection of concepts and best practices, all of which can help amplify your real estate business. Tapping into a business mentor can also allow you to explore a variety of new skills that can translate over to your world of real estate.

If there is an area you want to better understand, find someone that can teach you that is already an expert in that area. Wish you were a master at running a business of your own? Want to improve your skills overcoming objections? Need a refresher on networking, both virtually and online?

A business mentor can help with all of the above.

4. Get Involved in Your Community

Believe it or not, helping others can be the gateway to helping yourself. A great way to invest in yourself is by getting involved in your community. It may sound counterintuitive, but think about it: by rolling up your sleeves and helping out where you live, you can make an actual difference and true impact on your community members.

Most surprisingly, volunteering and giving back has been found by researchers to have clear health benefits, both physically and mentally, as well as help build new skills and connections.

Furthermore, being involved in your community allows you to become an expert in your area, which directly translates back to knowledge you can use to help your buyers and sellers. As an added bonus, getting your name, face, and assistance out in your local area helps build up your brand, too.

Your path to learning, growth, and self-improvement should be a continuous journey. By investing in yourself, in turn, you can offer a better version of yourself to others and to the world around you. This causes a ripple effect out into your real estate business, leading to better client experiences, more confidence in your deals, and masterful management of all that comes your way.

To view the original article, visit the BoomTown blog.

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