Are You Making The Investment?
David Freund, Chief Leadership Officer

It is often said that, “The dream is free, but the journey isn’t.” What a profound statement. We can and should have dreams for the future. With each of those dreams comes an investment that we need to make. Investments of time, money, and effort. Are you making the right investments? Let’s take a look at a few dreams, and what they might cost. For the purpose of examples, I will use some of my own dreams.

A Healthy Marriage – My wife and I have shared 37 years together. We married at the age of 20 and set out on a journey to get to know each other and build a family. We both had wonderful examples from our parents on what happy marriages looked like, but we needed to take the journey together, and we knew it wasn’t free. It would require investments in each other and our family. Time needed to be invested in each other. Time away from kids and focused on each other. Sacrifices had to be made, and we did without at times because we knew we were investing in the future.

A Sensible Home – I remember shortly after we were married, my Dad offered to sell us half of his property on Otisco Lake. There was a three-car garage with an apartment above it that would have been the perfect place to start out. I sketched out an addition that could have been added to the existing building making a beautiful three-bedroom colonial on a lake that I just love. As my new bride and I reviewed the plans, we quickly thought about the future when, God willing, children might come along. Did we want to live that far from our church? Would we make the trips into town for youth activities? Would we want our kids driving home on snowy nights? Well, the answers all came back “no,” so we declined the offer. We were willing to sacrifice living on the water to invest in the future wellbeing of our kids. We invested in the long-term, rather than thinking for the short-term.

Growth and Development – You knew I would get here at one point, didn’t you? How much are you willing to invest in your growth and development? My friend and mentor John Maxwell spends one hour per day pursuing growth-related activities. John will turn 72 next month. He has written over 100 books on leadership and personal growth, and he is still spending one hour per day to get better. Maybe that’s why he has been able to write so many books. You cannot give what you do not have.

Everything in life that is worthwhile is uphill. It all takes effort. It all requires an investment of time, money, and sweat. What are your dreams? What are your goals? Are you willing to invest?

Please join Marisa and me for Episode 85 of The Next Page podcast as we look into the various investments we can make to live an intentional life of significance.

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