Do you invest your money? Putting away a portion of your income into an investment plan creates more money later. With interest rates and financial pundits it is easy to see why financial investment makes sense.

But what about investment in other areas? Do you invest in your time, brain, body or space? What about investments in the books you read and friends you meet? Although few areas of life have the precision of an investment account, applying investment principles to other situations can have incredible gains.

Here are a few started points to consider your investment into life:

Mind. How much time do you spend learning? Not just studying for mandatory courses, but subjects you seek out only to learn. You can’t predict the value new information will have until you learn it. So pick up a book and start investing in your brain.

Body. Until medical science allows full body transplants, your stuck with your body for awhile. Putting in the right investments of exercise and healthy eating will ensure it can pay out later. Extra energy, less sick days, increased mobility and a longer life are just a few of the returns.

Skills. What skills may come in handy later? Knowing how to prepare your taxes? How to fix your computer? PHP? Spend a half hour each day investing into a skill.

Order. A small amount of time spent creating an organizing system can save dozens of hours otherwise lost. A simple system to order your tasks and office will keep mess from compounding.

Tools. Need to upgrade your computer? Or maybe you just need to do a quick reformat to clean out the hard drive. Craftsmen keep their tools sharp, why not yours?

writing. Do your e-mails look like they were written by a thirteen year old on an instant messenger chat screen? writing isn’t going away any time soon, so learn to communicate clearly in print.

network. Building a professional and private circle of friends is something you can’t do on demand. It takes considerable upfront investment, often when you don’t really need it. But having an extended network can give you access points to opportunities later.

Communication. How are your speaking skills? Can you do a fantastic cold call? Are you good at talking to strangers? How about empathizing with a friend? Find opportunities to invest in your communication skills.

Stories. Are you living a life worth talking about? I like to see interesting experiences as being investments in stories later. Do something worthy of telling stories later.

Courage. Make getting uncomfortable a habit. If you regularly flex your emotional muscles in handling new situations you are better prepared for when you really need to. You don’t need to take huge steps, just small investments.

Work Ethic. Invest in creating the character traits to get stuff done. Investing in these core traits are easier because the act of investment is useful in itself. While exercising at the gym may lead to a healthy body it doesn’t create new value. Finishing projects, building discipline and developing a productivity system will invest in a work ethic while adding value.
Leaky Faucets. The drip-drip-drip of a leaky faucet can waste huge amounts of water over time. But water loss isn’t the only type of leaky faucet you can encounter. If a problem is small but likely to reappear, fixing it immediately can save enormous costs later.

Habits. Your regular routine is an often neglected but incredibly important aspect to consider. You can’t turn yourself into a robot, but you can take simple steps to ensure your daily activities flow smoothly. Eating habits, sleeping habits, work habits and your daily rituals all contribute to your life.

Strong Connections. networking isn’t just about adding names to a Rolodex or a Blackberry. Having close professional and private bonds can be an incredible asset. Investing in empathy, listening and softer, more passive, skills can be an incredible asset in making you a people person.

Rest. Frustrated stress is an emotional debt. Although it’s good to have a challenge you also need to invest in your psychological well-being. Finding outlets for frustrations and creating rituals to recover your energy can ensure you don’t accumulate debt payments later.

Basics. Invest in the areas of your life that come up frequently. If mastered, basic skills, routines and places can reduce the amount of work you need to do. Basic skills such as cooking, reading, exercising and listening all benefit from investments.

Appearance. You could definitely argue that the world is far too shallow, and I’d have to agree. But your appearance and attire is a subtle form of communication about yourself. So if you’ve been sporting the four day stubble and your shirt has one too many holes, maybe it’s time to invest in that first layer of communication.

Business. Anyone who tells you that running an online business or self-employment is easy is either a liar or a fake. That being said, working on your entrepreneurial skills has advantages that go beyond money. Besides doing something you love, you can make new connections, build a reputation and immerse yourself in an environment of learning. I know many people that have started Businesses, and while it definitely takes work, the investment is usually worth it.

你用錢投資過嗎？如果你的部分收入用作投資的話，那將帶來更多的回報。有了利率的驅動和財經權威人士的輔助，我們很容易就明白金融投資的意義。

但你有沒有想過其他的投資渠道呢？你投資過你的時間、頭腦、身體和空間嗎？投資你讀過的書和見過的朋友又怎樣呢？盡管生活當中很少領域精算過其投資帳目，但是把投資原理應用到其它領域將會帶來意想不到的回報。

以下幾點將引領你去投資生活。

頭腦。你愿意花費多少時間在學習上？不只是為了學習必修的課程，而是要找科目來學。在你學習某樣東西之前，你無法預計它的價值和所帶來的新信息。所以，馬上拿起一本書開始為你的頭腦投資吧。

2. 身體。現在的醫療科學已經達到可以全身移植的地步了，你只是暫時背負著自己的身體。如果進行合適的運動投資加上健康的飲食，那將保證你很快就得到回報。充沛的體力，健康的日子，良好的活力和長久的生命只是投資回報的一小部分

3. 技能。哪些技能日后會用得著呢？知道怎么為你的納稅做準備嗎？知道怎么安置你的電腦嗎？知道怎么使用PHP嗎？每天投資半個小時去學習一個技能吧。

4. 整理。花費很少的時間就可以創造一個有組織的系統。這樣就可以為日后節省很多時間，反之則然。如果那個系統只是能夠簡單管理你的事務和辦公室，那么你的工作將變得一塌糊涂。

5. 工具。需要更新你的電腦嗎？或者你只需要把你的硬盤格式化。工匠會把他們的工具磨得很鋒利，為什么你不學他們嗎？

6. 寫作。你的e-mail看起來象一個13歲小孩在即時聊天屏幕上寫的東西嗎？寫作在任何時間都不會離你而去，所以要學會以書寫的形式與別人交流。

7. 網絡。建立一個專業和私人的人際網并不是隨手可得的。它常常需要在不經意的時候先進行投資。但有了一個廣闊的人際網，它就能帶給你很多機會。

8. 溝通。你的溝通能力怎樣？你能應付一個即興的訪問嗎？你善于與陌生人溝通嗎？怎樣去憐惜一個朋友呢？找機會為你的溝通能力進行投資吧。

9. .故事。你的生活是否值得一談？我喜歡經歷有趣的事情，就像對日后與經歷有關的故事進行投資一樣。做事情就是在給別人講故事。

10. .勇氣。養成不自在的習慣。應對你做了充分準備的新情況，如果你有規律地使自己的情感肌靈活運作的話，那么在你真正需要的時候就會發揮作用。你不必要大刀闊斧，只是需要平時小小的投資。

11. 職業道德。對自己的性格特性進行投資，以便把工作完成。投資這些核心并非難事，因為投資本身就是收益者。在體育館健身會令身體健康，但它不會創造新的價值。完成工作項目，建立工作準則和開發生產率系統將是對職業道德投資而并非有附加值。

12. 漏水的水龍頭。從一個漏水的水龍頭滴下的水，久而久之就會浪費大量的水資源。但是水的流失并不是你能看到的唯一后果。如果遇到一個不久就要重現的小問題，一定要馬上解決它，這樣就能夠挽回以后的巨大損失。

13. 習慣。你的日常行為習慣是一個容易忽略而又十分重要的方面。你不可能把自己變成一個機器人，但是你可以采取一些小步驟來確保你的日常活動順利進行。

14. 強大的關系。建立關系網并不是在Rolodex或者Blackberry上面添加幾個名字就行了。擁有專業和私人的關系會是一筆意想不到的財產。投資憐憫、聆聽和溫柔、更加被動的技巧是你具有良好人緣的寶貴財富。

15. 休息。沮喪的壓力是一種情感債。雖然接受挑戰是好事，但你也要對你的心理健康進行投資。為挫折尋找發泄出路，為恢復體力創造方法，那樣會保證你日后不會累積情感債。

16. 基本功。對你經常的活動領域進行投資。如果你熟透了這些基本技能和日常活動的地方，那將會令你事半功倍。基本技能包括煮飯，閱讀，運動和聆聽，這些全得益與那些投資。

17. 外表。你肯定會認為這個世界過于膚淺。我也是這樣認為的。但你的外表和衣服是一種你與外界溝通的微妙方式。所以，假如你掛著4天的短須，你的襯衣穿了好多小孔，那么你是時候要對溝通的第一關進行投資了。

18． 做生意。如果某人告訴你網上貿易或者個體經營是一件易事的話，那個人肯定是個說謊者或者騙子。努力挖掘你的創業技能遠比賺錢重要。除了做自己喜歡的事情，你還可以交新朋友，建立聲譽，同時把自己沉浸在一個學習的環境中。我認識很多已經開始做生意的人。在他們的生意有起色的時候，當初的投資就是值得的。