I don’t know too much about investing. But when it comes to investments I know a lot.

So, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Baltimore one night last week and a GOLD commercial comes on the television. It features a guy sitting on a horse talking about why he invests in gold and why you should too.

Now I know horses are kind of expensive and I figure if this guy can afford a horse he must know what he’s talking about. Besides, the way he makes it sound gold hasn’t gone down in value EVER.

Well, I browsed on over to the website featured in the commercial to get started with my new investment. They had lots of pictures of gold bars and coins on the home page and I knew immediately that I was interested in the coins. They appeared to be about the size of a U.S. quarter but maybe a little thicker. I seem to remember the site also said something about them weighing an ounce.

I was thinking maybe I’d start with a couple dozen of these gold coins and then build from there.

I have mentioned that I don’t know too much about investing… especially in gold?

When I clicked on the page to purchase my gold coins I thought there must be some kind of mistake. The total was something like $40,000! Geez I didn’t want to buy Fort Knox, I just wanted a handful of gold quarters.

Who would have thought that each one of those little coins would cost over $1600 dollars. Not me, that’s for sure. I just closed the page and went back to answering emails.

But it got me to thinking about other investments I’ve made and THE investment I’ve encouraged so many other people to make too. That investment is an investment in yourself.

I’ve been involved in adult education and training for over 25 years and in that time I’ve learned that people who invest in themselves most often end up far more successful than people who don’t.

When I was selling Dale Carnegie Training programs I saw two distinctly different types of people; one type believed that “if the company wants me to improve and be better at my job then they will need to pay for it.” The other type believed that “my success and happiness is my responsibility and if the company I work for won’t invest in me then I will invest in myself.”

The first type complied with the requirement to improve and the second type was committed to improvement.

Given those two types it doesn’t take much to determine which one would be more successful.

So what about you? Are you waiting for someone to invest in you? Are you leaving your success and future in the hands of another person or the company you happen to work for?

Are you the person who complains about the way things are or are you the person who makes an effort to improve them?

The best investment in the world is an investment in yourself. An investment in your future, an investment in your happiness and an investment you can use to make a difference in the lives of those you care about.

Don’t wait another day, read a book, find a blog to follow, enroll in a class and get yourself a coach or a mentor. Pay for a coach or mentor if you have to; but whatever it takes, get one now!

Stop saying “if only I could” to yourself and start saying “I absolutely will.” When you decide that no one but you can limit your growth and success, then no one can stop you.

You CAN do great things, the only question is, will you?