4 Best Investments I Am Proud I Made in my 20s; Investments That Made Me Smart
A few years back, I read a book that transformed how I think about money and wealth.
Congratulations, you guessed it right! I am talking about Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.
I am a commerce student so I didn’t find everything new in this book but there were a few concepts that challenged my beliefs around money and wealth building.
One of the concepts that is now a principle of my life is that “don’t spend money, invest money.”
Neither college nor the typical textbooks ever taught us how to be wealthy, and how to make money. In fact, my college taught me why getting a job is the only source of paying your bills. My college didn’t even prepare me for how to get a good job. College and people around me just stuffed me with the fear of ‘what will happen if you don’t get a job’
Result?
Instead of finding what I truly love, I was focused on what if I don’t get a job?
I remember, I started college with the hope of becoming a successful person and eventually giving my parents a luxurious life. But what did my college do to me? My college made me forget my big dreams and inserted fear in my mind.
But wait! Here comes a twist. During the 2020 lockdown, when the colleges were shut down and students were sent back home, I found my refugee in books, and ever since, I am not same anymore. My mindset shifted from getting a good job to creating good jobs.
And here are a few investments that I made in my 20s that actually opened my mind and helped me achieve more.
Shall we start?
1. Books:
This article and my life, both are incomplete without books. But let’s see a backstory first.
As a child, I was poor in my studies, and everyone used to say that ‘you cannot do anything’ After studying really hard, I finally started scoring the highest grades in my class (right from high school to college)
But let me tell you one thing, whatever I have achieved in my life, be it learning to write or learning to earn, none of it involves my textbooks or college degree. I don’t even remember the subject names.
However, nonfiction books have changed my entire life. An investment of less than $5 in Rich dad poor dad book taught me how wealth is actually built.
In fact, fiction books have played a big role as well in subconsciously training me to write.
I have even bought a kindle so that books are always with me, accessible with just one click. I am speaking from my personal experience that books have opened the doors of opportunities for me. Books have helped me to see the world differently, dream big, understand myself, make money, and build great habits.
Hence, it is my request to you to start investing in books. Read what you like be it fiction or nonfiction, both have their own advantages. Reading books is like learning from the best minds of the world.
2. Skillshare/Masterclass:
When it comes to learning something new, we often say we don’t have time, right? Yet if I look into your life, you seem to have enough time for scrolling on social media. (Just saying)
I am not your Mom so I am not going to lecture you to study hard and leave your phone. However, I would like to warn you that the world is changing rapidly. AI is replacing almost every other job. In such an era, you have to keep upgrading yourself. Because when you don’t upgrade, you become replaceable.
I bought the subscription to masterclass and SkillShare to learn something new every day. SkillShare is for learning things quickly. You can learn anything on SkillShare in less than 30 minutes. Hence, a good substitute for social media, right?
However, if you want to learn from professionals, Masterclass will be your best friend. If you want to learn writing, authors like Dan Brown, and Malcolm Gladwell are waiting to teach you on Masterclass.
Hence, not having resources or a good teacher is not an excuse anymore. Buy any one subscription and I promise you wouldn't regret it.
3. Effie:
I have read more than 200 books over the last 2 years. Now, you must be screaming ‘WOW!! 200 BOOKS!!
But do you know what’s not so WOW aspect of reading those 200 books? Well, I don’t remember what is being said in even 20 books. Yeah, now you can say ‘Ohh Sh*t!’
I know you must be going through similar issues and that’s why after searching for hours and days, I came across this underrated tool, EFFIE that has completely transformed the way I work.
I wanted to use an all-in-one tool that can store every piece of information in a very neat and clean way to help me stay organized and remember what I read in a way that is fun and exhilarating.
And that’s when I found a savior for me, Effie. Effie is like your best friend who helps you;
- Take effective notes
- Write down ideas in a beautiful way
- Create Mind-Maps
- Separate ideas as per their titles
I use Effie for taking notes and creating mind maps. I always thought that mind-maps are tough but with Effie, things are simpler. Here is an example of how I use Effie:
When you use mind maps, you force your brain to think about what you just read and how it is integrated into your life. I use mind maps to not only remember what I read but to grow my understanding of the subject strong as well.
When I am using mind maps for taking notes from books, it helps me to draw a clear picture in mind as to what I learned, how I will implement it, and which topic is more important than the other (helping you declutter unnecessary information)
So, I would definitely ask you to go ahead and use Effie for mind-mapping or taking notes, or for creating a mini library of your own. It’s the only tool I use and I love how easy it is. (You can download Effie from here)
4. Shortform:
Didn’t I just tell you I have read over 200 books? But let me tell you one more thing, half of them were a major disappointment.
A great self-help book can make you the strongest person in any room and you will start seeing the world from a different perspective.
However, if you read a poor self-help book, you will lose your interest in books altogether. Unfortunately, there are some books that are overly hyped and ain’t worth your time. But how can you save yourself from these overly hyped stupid books?
The answer is Shortform. Shortform produces uber-high-quality guides to non-fiction books. Shotform guides are like superpowered book summaries—comprehensive coverage of all the book’s key ideas, clearly and simply explained, plus smart commentary and analysis. It’s like your smartest friend teaching you about a book.
Now whenever I want to read a book, I just open Shortform and read the summary. In fact, the summaries in Shortform are so good that you might not need to read the book. With actionable steps, interactive questions, and the main takeaways of the books, this tool has become the love of my life.
The best part is it’s available to download as an app as well in both ios and android so when you feel like scrolling social media, just scroll short form - read the book (without reading the book)
PS: If you buy from my link, you will get a major discount and it will help me as well.
Conclusion:
I hope after reading this article, you make some good investments in your life as well. These are my personal 4 favorite ones but you can decide what you want to go ahead with. Remember, knowledge is the only way you can make more assets.
You can also tell me if I should make any other investments that have been rewarding to you.
