Why it pays to invest in yourself.

Today’s story is less of a story and more of an interesting observation.

Once upon a time, there lived a man in Nairobi Kenya. That man was inspired by his brother’s death to begin making the highest quality jackets he could make. Yes, that man was me. When I began this is the type of jacket I was coming up with.

Pretty pathetic right? Compare that to this.

Worlds apart.

However, how far we’ve come in just a few years is not the point of this post. You see back then we couldn’t sell to a celebrity no matter how hard we tried. Celebrity sales were a long frustrating process that usually bore no fruit at all. And it made me bitter early on. It had me believing that celebrities were a bunch of greedy people who wanted free stuff.

But as we slowly improved our craft to the level you see in the product video above, celebrity meetings and sales have become a lot easier to score. You see, the problem wasn’t them, it was me. Not only has our craftsmanship improved, but my presentation of myself as the firm’s main salesman has also improved drastically.

Nowadays, I’ll go to the spa for things like facials, adorn a special pair of handmade shoes (King Sidney debut shoe collection is coming soon by the way), and wear a jacket that forces the respect of any important client I come across. You should see how they look at me. It feels pretty special to be looked at with respect by a guy that, up until that point, you’ve only seen on TV.

Here’s my observation. Opportunities will always come. Eventually.  As long as you’re putting in the work and slowly improving your craft, the arrival of the opportunity itself is inevitable. The question is, will you be ready for the opportunity once it eventually gets here?

Interviews will come as long as you get better at your craft, polish up your CV, and dish it out consistently. But when the interview comes, how powerful do you look when you walk into it? And how memorable will you look to the interviewers? We’re in an extremely competitive world after all. And the easiest way to highlight your uniqueness as a man is in your sense of style.

If you have an important presentation coming up, the way you look on the outside is just as important as the content coming out of the inside of your mouth. Truth be told, a lot of us in the crowd will stare and be mesmerized by how confident and dashing you look and may not even hear a single word you have to say.

And if you’re a young politician looking to run for office soon against an older incumbent? Your presentation is vital. Let me briefly explain it in the video below.

And if you’re an entrepreneur, who’s put in a lot of work to finally get in front of that all-important client, well, how sharp you look is definitely paramount, as explained by the brief story in the following video.

My point is, an investment in yourself is just as important as an investment in your craft.

Professional, don’t spend all those years working on your craft then lose the opportunity to some more charismatic less qualified individual in a single interview.

Pastor, you’ve been placed on that podium not only to teach but to inspire. Let’s not have your congregation shutting off and having their thoughts go to another direction simply because you’ve chosen not to invest in yourself.

Mr. Politician, give us a powerful look to remember when you go for that TV interview. Something that will differentiate you from your competition. Or else in our thoughts, we will group you into the negative perception we already have about the rest of them. Simply because you already look just like the rest of them.

And finally Mr. Entrepreneur. Don’t lose life-changing deals simply because of a lack of investment in yourself. Small investments lead to big returns in the long term. You of all people should know that.

 

Cheers and God bless.