What have you invested in lately? Pt: 1

By Paul Hamer

There are as many kinds of investments as there are ways to invest and an equally number of reasons for doing so. There are investments in stocks and bonds, investments business, investments in homes or land. The list goes on and on. But what is your greatest investment?

Some time ago I sat and thought on these things. I wondered what investment could bring the highest value in return for what was put into it. I guess I am not the first to do so. Perhaps many of you have as well.

What I soon came to realize is one of the best investments we can make is in education. Without education and knowledge you would not have any foundation to build a good future on. Yes, I’ve heard as you that knowledge is power. To me, it also helps power the brain. It fills in the blanks allowing us to make informed and good decisions. Knowledge and education is fuel for our brains so to speak. It dictates our every action and move. Without that investment in the fuel of knowledge we can become stagnant, develop poor habits and not reach our true potential.

When one is born the educational investment starts. We listen and learn to speak, to crawl, to walk and then to run. Our mind is like a sponge, absorbing it all. We develop habits, learn to think and reason.

Our life is in a constant stage of growth and learning for a long time to come.

As we go though our school years and perhaps then on to college, we must decide what path to take for our future. We go on to become educators, laborers, lawyers, doctors or perhaps even photographers. At what point though does our investment in education stop? After all, the human mind has an infinite capacity to learn.

For comparison sake, let’s take a doctor into consideration. A doctor never stops learning. They spend years learning their craft but still must continually fuel their brain with new information on healthcare and medicine. If not, I don’t think they would be a very good doctor, would you? So why as photographers should that be different?   New methods, equipment and trends in imaging are constantly come along. Just in the last 10-15 years photography and digital imaging has progressed at an astounding rate. As photography has evolved, we must be eager to learn, to absorb and to fuel our brains with knowledge and new skills. We all need to not only invest in new tools and equipment but equally important education, to give our life meaning, to grow as professionals and serve to the best of our ability our clients and be successful.

Invest in your future. Invest to reach your goals of becoming the best you can be. For by investing in knowledge, that will carry you on to a new level of success and security for years to come.

Read Part: 2 next week…