Invest in Yourself....Yes, You Can Afford It

                         "Invest in yourself and people will invest in you." -Andrea C. Imafidon

How many times have you denied yourself of something you need such as a financial coach, mentor, or investment in your business? How many times you said you cannot afford something but your splurge your money and time on mindless shopping, going out to eat, switching hairdos weekly and other things that don't serve your purpose? I am all for looking beautiful but don't you think it is time for you invest in your inner beauty and essence to match the outside?

We all have done this once upon a time because we either feel guilty or ashamed into investing in ourselves. Many times, we will invest in frivolous things such as a new outfit, shoes, expensive handbag or something tangible that doesn't provide substances within our lives.  How many times do you "reward" yourself with an expensive gift but still feel guilty or empty within? (Coaching Question)

When you invest in yourself, you are proving yourself with an unlimited wealthy of opportunities. Investing in yourself is a part of self-love and self-care which are two valuable personal experiences that are organic and natural. When you denied yourself of investing in yourself, it will show within your personal and professional life. When you don't invest within yourself, you suppress your inner passion, interests and growth/evolution. How can we be truly free and independent when we don't provide investment and self-love for ourselves? You will always be caught up in the rapture of brokenness and chasing after a deferred dream when we don't invest in ourselves.

Remember, investing in yourself take patience, persistence, prayer, and payment. Yes payment. You are going to pay one way or another, you are going to pay money to attend that long over due workshop, conference, or class to help you achieve your lifelong goal. You are going to have to dig a little deeper in the closet and shop for that cute outfit to wear for that investment meeting with the big investors who are looking to invest thousands into your company. You are going to stop asking your fellow sister-friend for the "hook up" because that sister-friend is worth more than asking for the hook up. She invest in her business, have home and business bills to pay and she is worth it.

Now is the time to invest in yourself and building your empire! Don't defer your dreams and goals for something else.

Here are three ways why you should invest in yourself:

1. Pursuing your passion.  Time is one of the most important things you should invest in when you are pursuing your passion. You cannot get time back. When your pursue your passion, you are providing self-love and perseverance. Your passion is within and at your fingertips but you must discover it. Discovering your passion, being persistence and investing in yourself are valuable tools. When you invest in yourself, you have to be willing to make sacrifices such as cutting back from getting a manicure and pedicure weekly, you have to go shopping within your closet and at times you have to minimize your lifestyle. (Some of you all are probably rolling your eyes but you have to sacrifice something to achieve your dreams.)
2. Creating and Increasing Your Wealth. When people think of wealth, people think of finances. Wealth is not always about finances. The definition of wealth have a plethora of meanings but for this article we will stick with abundance of anything. We should invest in our wealth of knowledge, resources and wisdom. When we increase our wealth, we should also invest our wealth in others who have the wisdom, knowledge and experience in a certain field or business. We should invest in books, workshops, a coach, our community and organization to increase your net-worth, network, and self-worth
3. Holistic Self-Care. “The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.” – Steve Maraboli Great quote! If you don't love yourself, don't expect anyone else to love or invest in you. We live in an ADHD and microwaveable society in which we are constantly on the go. Stop, breathe and connect with yourself. Invest in healthy and unprocessed foods which we save you money and sickness. Invest in your health by working out. You don't have to invest in an expensive gym membership in which you may never use but one time. Go put on some shorts/sweatpants and sneakers and work it out. Turn off the TV and sit in your thoughts. Be still, meditate and listen to that voice within called intuition. All these things cost you nothing but time and effort. 

Providing self-care and self-awareness doesn't cost you nothing but time and effort. You must be willing to invest into you, your dreams, your wealth and health. You deserve to love yourself and care for yourself. Stop investing your wealth into tangible and material things which will slowly fade away. Invest into things that matter which is you and your well-being. If you cannot invest and give to yourself, there is no way you will be able to give whole-heartedly to others. Invest in yourself. 

Invest wisely!

Coaching question: What's really holding you back from fully investing in yourself? Share and comment below?

Thank you for reading and investing your time in Brown Girl From Boston!
XOXO,

Drea

Dysfunction Junction: Why Do We Thrive on Malfunction?

            "We live in a bipolar, microwavable society in which people thrive off of dysfunction." -Drea Camille

Today I was on and off my main social media network because 1.  I didn't feel like hearing the same "Monday Blues" and 2.  I just didn't feel like allowing my energy to be drained. As we all know, Monday roll around every week, so please stop being surprised when Monday roll around again. Stop hating on Monday and embrace Miss Monday, she didn't do anything to anyone but start off the week. 3. A dysfunctional and inappropriate tape leaked of a few celebrities getting into a scuffle over who knows what because a. None of us was there, b. That's between the parties involved and c. It is not my business nor place to judge because it is not my position nor do I want it to be. I am trying to maintain my sanity, personal, and professional life never mind trying to figure out why someone that I don't know and may not ever know did something that I have no control over. 

We can assess, speculate and gather every thought and opinion about various situations but we must stop thriving on malfunction and dysfunctional situations and circumstances.  Whenever I read, view or hear anything that is dysfunctional, my energy become drained because nothing good comes from these situations or circumstances. I look at these situations as emotional vampires because it sucks your energy and leave you thinking why did I allow that to happen. We have to be mindful and present whenever we indulge in dysfunction and malfunction behaviors and circumstances. We have all been in these situations and below I wrote ways on how we unfortunately thrive on dysfunction and ways we can grow and thrive in life without being involve in dysfunction and malfunction environments and behaviors. 

Three Ways We Thrive on Dysfunction:

1. Your Life Mirror Dysfunction. If your house is a mess, your life is a mess. The word house can mean your actually house, your life, your essence, your mind but you get the point. If these things are a mess and full of dysfunction behaviors and actions, it can cloud your judgement and life.  Take a quick assessment of your life, look at the people you surround yourself with, do they always have some kind of drama and chaos going in. 
2. Dysfunction is Entertaining and Contagious . You DVR your favorite reality shows and you update your statues and tweets. You also think it is cool to take shots at people via subliminal messages.  You think it is copacetic to put your personal and professional relationships on blast via social media because everyone else is doing it. Some people love when you post your dysfunction because you will be the topic of discussion and the laughing stock of social media. No one will take you nor your relationships due to being dysfunctional.  
3. Personal and Professional Life is Dysfunctional. You live in chaos and you work in chaos. You bring your dysfunction to your work place such as bringing your negative energy from home to the workplace and vice versus. If you always complain to others or social media about dysfunction and never take accountability and responsibility for your role, you will continue to live in dysfunction. 

Three Ways We Can Grow and Thrive Without Being Dysfunctional:

1. Break The Cycle:  Be firm and stand for right. You don't have to be a follower. You can easily break the cycle of dysfunctional behavior and circumstances. Shift your mindset, surround yourself with like-minded people and things. Just because you come from dysfunction, doesn't mean you have to continue to live and indulge in dysfunction. Start small such as if your house is literally a mess, start cleaning a room at a time. You can start cleaning out your closet and donate clothes you haven't worn in months or even years.
2. Realistic Goal-Setting:  Go get a blank piece of paper and start writing down your short and long term goals you want to achieve.  What are some things you want and need to accomplish? Have your wrote those things down and actually developed an action plan on developing them? If the answer is no, what are your waiting for. Unplug from dysfunctional activities, people and things and achieve your goals and dreams. 
3. Get Out of Your Way:  In order for you to be successful and accomplish your goals and dreams, you must first get out of your feelings and get out of your way to be successful. When we get out of our way and feelings, we can grow and thrive in appropriate way. Getting out of your way means you must go against the grain, be a leader and get out of your comfortable. If you are comfortable, you are not growing. 

Thank you for reading! I want to hear from you on why do we thrive on dysfunction and malfunction. Share your thoughts and opinions. Look forward to hearing from you and please share Brown Girl From Boston blog.

Stay Beautiful and Brainy!

Drea

XOXO