Josh Kaufman

Josh Kaufman is the bestselling author of books on business, entrepreneurship, skill acquisition, applied psychology, and practical wisdom. About Josh Kaufman »

The Three Best Investments

“You have a gold mine between your ears: your mind and your imagination."

Earl Nightingale

If you're going to invest your time and money, why not get the best possible return?

Here are the best investments…

Knowledge

Anything that helps you figure out what you really want and how to go about getting it.

Websites, books, courses, seminars, and training programs can make you smarter, savvier, and better prepared to complete active projects and handle future challenges.

The better the resource, the higher the ROI, which routinely exceeds 1,000 times the purchase price.

Tools

Anything that helps you get better results per unit of time and effort.

Equipment, hardware, and systems are Force Multipliers. The better your tools, the more you can accomplish with quality results.

Some people complain that tools are expensive: they cost a lot, and they're often difficult to use. That's often true. It's also true that doing the work without the best available tools is even more expensive and difficult.

As a rule of thumb, if you intend to use a tool for more than an hour per day one day per week, get the very best you can afford.

Skills

Anything that increases your ability to act in ways that result in getting what you want as quickly as possible.

Skill is how you use knowledge and tools to their best effect. Starting from nothing, you can learn how to do anything you decide is worth the effort and persistence. It's not always easy, but it's always possible.

Skills are at the center of 100% of your income and a healthy percentage of your fun. Investing in your own abilities can and will increase your income, and give you access to new untapped opportunities.


Investing in your own knowledge, tools, and skills will trounce any other investment you can possibly make. Who needs the stock market when you have a gold mine between your ears?

Published: August 18, 2014 Last updated: January 21, 2019