Investing in yourself

A few months ago I was skimming the 2008 financial self-help book called Killing Sacred Cows, and I came upon a few pages about Investing in Yourself. My mind wandered to examples of successful people and how they have invested in themselves.

I began thinking about Warren Buffet, and how over the course of his lifetime he has armed himself with information about all the companies he has invested in. Somewhere along the way someone encouraged Mr. Buffet to invest in himself.

I began thinking about Barack Obama, and how he has been able to work his way through Ivy League schools, through the politics of Chicago, and now he sits in the Oval Office. Somewhere along the way someone encouraged Mr. Obama to invest in himself.

I began to think of TED.com, and how they give out prizes each year to people/organizations with great ideas. Dave Eggers won a few years back for his concept of 826 Valencia ("the trick to happy communities is getting kids to do their homework..."). Somewhere along the way someone encouraged Mr. Eggers to invest in himself.

It's comforting to know that even through inevitable future budget cuts, we will have public service entities that will continue to set the standard for communities investing in themselves.

Have you encouraged someone today?