I’ve always been interested in investing. For a while I considered being a stockbroker or financial advisor. I have always lived well below my income and fantasized about investing in products to sell online, stocks, or real estate. I’ve sold a lot of stuff online and dabbled in the stock market. At this point I haven’t touched real estate. However, when compared to the entire spectrum of experiences and possessions I have my “financial investments” have a much smaller ROI than my “life investments”.
At the beginning of Covid I began to look at investing a lot differently. How could I spend money in a way that would dramatically improve my life while having no expectation of making money from the investment. For me this was a completely different way of thinking. Until January I had difficulty rationalizing spending money on anything other than food, my car payment, or products to resell.
Outside of this my biggest expense was chiropractors and massage therapists. I have dealt with significant back pain since high school and since I have been making real money consistently I decided I was willing to spend basically any amount of money I had to fix this problem.
The short version of this story is that I ended up meeting a holistic healer (I know) who completely fixed my back after 3 chiropractors, 2 massage therapists, a manual therapist, and 2 orthopedic surgeons were unable to figure out how to correct a problem that had persisted on a daily basis for over 7 years.
After getting over the initial shock that the holistic healer’s extremely unconventional methods had a lasting effect I started to think about “investing” a lot differently. In retrospect I would have paid this guy $10,000 to do what he did if I knew it would provide a permanent fix and relief. Luckily it only took 4 sessions and I was out $450. This honestly might be the biggest bargain of my life.
While I normally tried to bank at least 1/3 of my paycheck I began to wonder if there were other areas of my life I could “throw money” at to improve my quality of life or “happiness”. So I decided to get a personal trainer. The idea was this would give me an individualized workout and make sure the poor muscle memory and atrophy I had accrued over the last decade was permanently corrected.
This was not cheap and I went back and forth on it for close to 2 months. But eventually I decided to do it and it was another great decision. Although the holistic healer fixed the pain and some range of motion issues I had severe muscle imbalances that needed professional help. These issues that had been building for years can’t get fixed by 30 minutes with anyone. It will probably take over 6 months to completely eliminate the imbalances if I work out by myself twice a week and with the trainer twice a week.
I’ve been going for over three months now and have experienced really amazing results.
The moral of this story is that I am looking for more “opportunities” like this. Everyone should be. I’m not made of money, far from it at this point. The personal training is my biggest monthly expense outside of my car payment. However, I am searching for other experiences that may seem like frivolous expenses on the outside but actually provide an incalculable ROI over time.
These investments are not just about money. Some investments may really just take time or will power. I’ve begun dabbling with meditation which is completely free. But there is a significant time investment if you want any tangible results. So far it’s easier for me to fall asleep but that’s about it. No inner peace or incredible personal insight yet.
I’ll keep this updated if I add anything else to my list. Off the top of my head I list some “opportunities” below I have not seriously pursued but have observed people describe as an investment over time.
Premium version of online dating apps & professional photos
Meditation apps
Therapists
Dietitian
Meal Prep
Online Courses (Done this)
Supplements (Done this)