Invest in You

I think differently than most. I am a serial entrepreneur and have always been since I began on my journey in life. More specifically, a QoL (Quality of Life) Entrepreneur. Therefore, my goal is to impart what I have learned to you. You may disagree and that is fine. I am not here to convince you but share my experiences and knowledge to hopefully widen your perspective and enlighten you. I have a unique “different” holistic approach to investing, business and life.

CASH is king (or queen). What does this mean? Liquidity is key. Remaining liquid to seize opportunities as well as having options and freedom. Freedom to create.

Being a serial entrepreneur, we repeatedly turn creative ideas into successful businesses. Are they all successful? No. We learn from trial and error and feedback loop so we continue “tweaking” as we go so even though it may begin as a series of errors we continue learning through mistakes until we have a successful finished product or service. We are always changing, adapting, and growing. Anyone who tells you they started out being a winner and are perfect is lying. Being an entrepreneur is about being flexible and always learning to continue to improve.

I am not here to convert you to being an entrepreneur. If you want to be, then great. However, my goal is to share insight with you that should help you to be better. Knowledge is power.

So, you hear me say, Invest in You. Yes, as entrepreneurs and people, it is important to invest in yourself. Whether it is your new or same business or in your ideas, creative projects, or products. With most asset classes providing negative expected returns in these contracting times which are part of the economic cycles, it seems that you may get the highest ROI (return on investment) on investing in yourself. Happiness is key in life. Wealth is about freedom. Multiple job holders are on the rise because times are tough. Therefore, by reserving cash to invest in your ideas you can gain more happiness as well as a potential side entrepreneurship opportunity. Now, you may say, you want this cash working for you. I agree. However, with cash you only have inflation working against you while most asset classes have inflation plus negative returns. This is not absolute but the general case. Remaining liquid for opportunities as there will be plenty. There always are after challenging times. Therefore, reserving cash for opportunities or yourself or both. There may be opportunities now for you. I have found some as well. Reduced sizing on investments has been fruitful for me. Risk is at elevated levels due to massive uncertainty. Uncertainty = risk. We have lots of uncertainty at this point in time. Therefore, I choose to hold “reduced” position sizes in investments.

By reducing investment sizes we reduce risk and the emotions associated with these ventures, opportunities, investments, etc. Having more liquid cash decreases our emotions and stress tied to these ventures. When you have less stress, you can have more clarity. Increased clarity by having reduced stress (meditation helps too) facilitates greater creativity and thinking to invest in yourself and build successful businesses. You are in a more peaceful state so ideas can flow more freely. Think of fight or flight. When you are in “fight” mode all your brain focuses on is survival not “what if” hypothetical, creative thinking. We want to place our minds in that creative state of pondering and wonderment.

Mental clarity and peace is key. So even if holding more CASH does “nothing” and just sits in your bank account, it can lead to higher quality decisions in your life. Now that is a positive ROI. Mental peace.

Cash increases your options. More options = more freedom. Wealth is ultimately freedom and not how many zeros are on your banking statements. The more deployable cash you have, the more you can “do” with your time. Greater flexibility so you can say “no” to what you do not want to do. You have leverage. The more options you have, the more you can “do” which lends itself to providing you more opportunities which lead to an “abundance.” An overwhelming of abundances can appear in your life whether it is more time for yourself or more liquidity to invest when “value” opportunities arise. Having options.

Now speaking of options, let’s talk about another type of “options”, stock options. These are tools for “semi” passive income. Remember I call stock options “semi” passive. Of course they are! You need to keep a close watch on them and need to act if they go against you at some point before their expiration and sometimes they take even more time than I prefer depending on the market’s irrational movements. They are a great diversified approach to “collect” rent on your shares but also require your time on a sliding scale depending on the many variables. Real estate is also another “semi” passive investment. Do you ever truly buy an income producing property and then forget about it while it provides you a revenue stream? No. It does require “some” work. It is still an excellent asset class to add to your portfolio but be aware that it does require some nourishment and tending to for it to grow. I call these “semi” passive.

Lower yielding ventures and investment vehicles tend to give us more flexibility and free up our time. Yes, there is an inverse relationship with returns and your time. A trade off. You want less time intensive projects, then these usually provide “lower yields”. Lower yielding returns but they are more “passive” so we have more freedom and time for ourselves. Let’s frame it this way, less time intensive projects with less returns so we have more freedom and time for ourselves. I view things on a sliding scale. There are no absolutes of “true” passive income but we can have “more” passive income investments. Always a trade off with our time.

Conclusion, everything requires your time. Cash frees up your time. Time is your most valuable commodity. Paying for services over acquiring excessive goods is another “freedom” that cash affords you. We want options and freedom. That is wealth.