What investments are you making in 2020?

In 1996, we bought a small farm in New Berlin, Texas.  We traded our beautiful 2,700 square foot home on a postage stamp lot in the city for a 1,700 square foot doublewide on a gorgeous 6 1/2 acres in the country.  Over the past four years, we’ve made significant investments to transform the house into a stunning “custom home on an iron foundation.”

We hit the ground running that first year.  We bought a Quad-Cab F-350 to haul our family while hauling materials.  Bought a Kubota tractor with all kinds of attachments to take care of the property. Built a 500 square foot covered deck to be our outdoor kitchen.

And then it all went to hell in a handbasket overnight.  For about 18 months, things stalled.  Zero progress.  It was depressing.  It was demotivating.  There was a lot of uncertainty around the future.  The dreams were unraveling, fading…fast.

In the midst of that, a friend asked me a question.  He said, “You’ve made a lot of investments in your farm.  What investments are you making in yourself?”

Up until that point, I’d never really thought of investing in myself.  Investing in the farm, the house?  Sure.  In tools, in renovations?  Absolutely.  In me? 

As I pondered the idea of “investing in me,” for the first time, I saw myself as a leverageable asset.  Something that, when taken tare of, generated enormous returns.  And something that could be tweaked, adjusted, improved, enhanced to provide even greater returns.  I was kind of like the old doublewide on the property.  Something that, with a little work here and there, would be worth 5-10 times the investment…or more.

And in September 2017, Melissa and I began investing in ourselves.

Over the past two years, the returns have been amazing.

• We’re each driving our dream cars.  Melissa’s is a Turquoise Ford Thunderbird convertible, and mine is a Cadillac Escalade.
• We’ve completed the kitchen renovation, including an 11’ commercial sink, French doors out to the kitchen deck, custom cabinets and built-ins, a Jenn-Air downdraft cooktop with a grill, and a commercial oven.
• I release 50 pounds in 6 weeks, and for the first time in over 20 years weigh less than 300 pounds.
• We’re 1/3 of the way through our bathroom renovation, and it is Southern Living magazine cover beautiful.
• I filed a patent, wrote a book, started a weekly blog…all within 6 months.
• We’ve increased our income 60% in the past 18 months.

And in 2020, the results we’re committed to creating are:

• Completing the interior renovation of our home.
• Buying a vacation home/investment property in Durango, Colorado.
• Increasing our net worth 300%.
• Creating 4 fun family adventures with our kids.

I’ve invested time and money in academic degrees, in real estate, in stocks and options.  I invested 45 years of life and money in church.  And it all proved worthless to me overnight.  The only investment I count as meaningful, as valuable, worth it, is the investment I’ve made in me through Klemmer.  That investment has given me the tools to change me.  And changing me has changed my life.

So…what investments are you making in 2020?  Do you want to invest in yourself?  I do…and I am.  One of my investments this year is being at Klemmer’s Personal Mastery here in San Antonio from February 28th to March 1st.  You wanna go?