Photo and blog by Sharman Dow
“Diversify” seems like such a confusing word, and yet in simple terms it just means to increase and produce variety. Many times you will hear this word when it comes to financial matters and especially investments. With your financial investments it means to make sure you don’t put all your golden eggs (savings) into one basket. In other words, spread your financial portfolio into smaller increments, so that if one investment, such as stocks, go South, then the rest of your savings will not be impacted.
This is diversification, and it’s a great concept to apply to your business career and personal success. Your personal investment is YOU!! You are your own best asset, and to diversify means for you to increase your talents and create variety in your abilities. You don’t want to get locked into one area and never grow, so you need to diversify the investment you have in you. Change will always happen; are you prepared to move forward to increase your knowledge and capabilities?
First and foremost, you must realize you are a treasure! There is only one of you, and there will never be another duplicate of who you are in God’s eyes and to the world. You are one of a kind, and as the saying goes, “they broke the mold when you were made.” Realizing there is just one of you and you were made for a purpose brings value to your business and personal life.
If you look at yourself as an investment, then what are you doing to increase your investment–are you diversifying your talents? When I first got into insurance I was not sure in what area I wanted to specialize, so I got licensed in all areas of insurance. I dabbled in life insurance, personal insurance and health insurance, but it was not until a year or so later that I realized all I wanted to sell was commercial insurance to large corporations.
I did this for several years, but it was not until I became specialized in Workers’ Compensation that selling insurance became a financial gold mine for my success. At that time, I did everything I could to learn about my chosen specialty. As I grew in my knowledge I was able to obtain more and more clients with many referrals.
Learn to diversify your talents, then fine-tune them to make yourself valuable to your employer and to you. As you grow in your business, make sure you do not hold yourself back from learning new things. I never thought I would be able to find the time to write a book — and now I have two books. I had a desire to help empower women in business. I wanted to help Christian business women to achieve success and become the salt and light in the workplace. I realized the best way to accomplish this was to put on a conference. In 2015 I did just that with the Empower Women’s Conference.
Diversify the investment you have in you and your success will grow!
Sharman Dow is the founder of the Empower Women’s Conference.
