During difficult economic times, often the best investment is in educating yourself. Not only is it incredibly rewarding, but immediately – while still a student – you change the parameters of who you are and open up the opportunity for reversing the decline in income to an increase in income - as well as a more enjoyable and successful life.

Remember, it’s never too late to educate yourself.

Obviously, this takes some investment. You have to invest time, money, and your own mental energy to make education and cultural literacy work for you. Here are some ways you can invest in your own education, from the obvious to the subtle.

1. Get a college degree

This is the most obvious method for investing in your own education - but it does require a lot because it works. A college degree opens countless opportunities for you, whether it’s an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, or a Ph. D. The major drawback is that a college degree requires a big investment in time, money, and mental effort. You can’t just walk down to the corner shop and pick one up - it requires years of continuous effort to acquire it.

Thus, the best way to maximize the value of a degree is to figure out the area you’re passionate about as early as you can. Pay a lot of attention to what you do in your spare time - activities that you find enjoyable that you’re drawn to time and time again.

Also, don’t just assume that a degree at an expensive college is the best investment opportunity for you. No one will deny that a degree at Harvard is more valuable than a degree at East Overshoe Tech, but for most schools, the important part is that you achieved the degree at an accredited school. Do your own research and find the best educational value for you - it might be at your local state university, your local community college, or some of the great new courses now available online, especially if you don’t have significant resources to invest up front, and need to work while you are getting your degree.

2. Engage in activities that can teach you new things

Most people go through the same routine, day in and day out. They do the same activities each day and rarely put forth the effort to stretch their wings and try new things. However, time and time again, trying something new teaches us quite a bit about the world around us from people (what others believe, how they act, and the realities they face in everyday life, etc.) to ideas and skills (how small businesses handle computer networking, how a soup kitchen prepares food for six hundred people, etc.). The best way to do this is to:

a. Engage in activities outside of your comfort zone.

b. Join a community or student organization.

c. Travel to new places.

3. Find a mentor
Mentors can offer intelligent advice when needed and provide a sounding board for your own ideas, constantly encouraging you to push yourself and grow, providing valuable intellectual company. No matter what area you’re trying to grow in, a mentor can be a valuable thing to find. Don’t know where to start? Here are a few basic steps to get started.

a. Look for people who have attained a level of respect in your area of interest.

b. Also, look for people who won’t have a conflict of interest when helping you.

c. Pick up the phone and actually make the contact.

4. Get additional certifications

Many careers revolve around continuing education and a big part of it comes in the form of professional certifications. Certifications generally indicate that a person has received and (to some degree) studied a significant body of information and has performed a certain set of tasks that usually indicate that the person has a certain skill. In other words, when you see a certification on a resume (and it can be validated), you can be sure that that person has learned and applied the skills described. Certifications do two things: they add a nice line to your resume and they often boost the skills you can list on your resume. In combination, a number of certifications can significantly raise the level of income that you can potentially earn in your career. Here are a couple of things you can do to get the train going.

a. Identify certifications that you could potentially be earning.

b. See what certifications are currently in demand.

c. Find out if your employer will pay for some certifications.

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The Bottom Line

Many of you have thought about though again about taking that plunge to further educate yourself. So now is time to turn that New Year’s Resolution from many years ago into reality.

1. Start looking into schools and have them send you some info you can review

2. Make a list of activities that will help you grow – and follow up

3. Make a list of potential mentors

4. Look what certificates can help you grow and succeed

Last, but not least, life is a process and one should never stop educating him or herself.

Not only is this satisfying and stimulating, but your earning potential will rise accordingly.