Investments

How do I Invest Myself?

"Successful investors have to be bold, willing to take risks, and ready to act contrary to the behavior of other investors."

- Sternberg & Lubart

How do I Invest Myself?

Take short-term losses for long term goals.

I invest a majority of my time and a huge chunk of my money into my academic life and future career.  Right now I am taking short-term losses for my long term goals of becoming a college professor.  I have taken out all the loans possible in order to make sure I have the schooling I need. A steady career in a field I love, with a comfortable paycheck will be the long term goal I am reaching for.  I am also sacrificing my time by devoting it to schooling, studying, and applying to graduate school.

There's no guarantee that one's stock will go up.

When it comes to investing yourself, there is no guarantee that what you are sacrificing for will be achieved. I could be in debt for years from my schooling and could fail out of graduate school.  Risks are something every investor must take into account.  I believe my investment in my future life and career will be work it, and that I will achieve all my goals.

Your ability to become more creative is impacted by your own personal beliefs about knowledge and learning.

I believe knowledge is cumulative over time and not fixed from birth.  No one was born with the amount of knowledge they will live with for forever.  I also know learning takes time and it will take years for me to attain the knowledge I need in order to pursue my career.  I am currently more of a performance-oriented learner.  This means I am more concerned with appearing successful or competent.  I am more of this kind of learner right now because I need to appear competent and successful in order to get into an accredited graduate school.  I will need to be more of a mastery-oriented learner where I am highly focused on understanding content and not fearing failure.  This will allow me to master my knowledge on the communication concepts I will teach in the future and not be afraid to ask questions.  

Buy low and sell high. 

I am investing my time in school now so later in life I will have a job that will be worth my investment.  If people think you're slightly nuts in whatever you are doing, you're probably on a "buy low" path.  I believe this describes my investment in a future teaching career because most people do not understand why I want to put this much time and effort into school.  If years of schooling and possible debt are the risks I have to take to attain my dream job... it's an investment with risks that I am willing to take. I will be bold, be willing to take risks, and be ready to act contrary to the behavior of other investors.