Personal Return on Investment

When presenting a potential project, in terms of budgeting, it is important to include the return on the investment (ROI).  From a simplistic point of view, that would mean showing the point in time where the cost of the new project would meet the costs by making no changes and keeping things the same.  Or, better put, the time when I would realize the breakeven point.   Afterwards, the dollar saving would be realized from that point forward.  To provide a more inclusive analysis, you would need to include the “softer” components, such as work time to complete the related tasks (time savings), the speed at which results are seen / reported on (shortening deliverable dates) and better utilization of systems (efficiencies).  This is part of the world of Project Management.  Do we ever extend that thinking to our personal lives?  Do we evaluate the investment we put into something (time, effort, sacrifices) versus the return on that investment (personal challenges, personal development, sense of accomplishment)?

I remember when we were shopping for colleges with Gab, one of the guys at one of the schools brought this subject up.  “Your son or daughter will be going to school for four years,” he started, “by the time they have completed the education and you have either spent the money or you have to pay back the large loans, is the education worth it?  If you spend $200K for school to have your child earn $30K a year, did you get the value, or did you just spend too much.”  Very good words, because at that time, we were shell shocked by the cost of education, and education is something that we value very highly.

We figure out our own personal ROI for most things, even though we do not realize it.  My golf game has MAJOR room for improvement.  Is it worth the time and money to hire a pro to take lessons?  Since I played only a handful of times last year and will be lucky to play once or twice this year – no.  Last year I picked up the banjo, should I take some lessons to improve my playing?  I am fairly good at picking up the basics of instruments and there is a lot to learn from on YouTube – no.  Attending a seminar / on-line course related to personal development or one’s career?  Sometimes, even if we are on the right path, re-enforcement is good and the opportunity to learn something useful has longer benefits – yes.

Does this mean that I have always thought in terms of this?  That would be a no.  Like anyone else, there are times where I got caught up in the moment, thought I was doing the right thing, or threw caution into the wind.  However, in each case, there was always a lesson learned.  Unfortunately, we need to stumble before we can straighten out and move forward.  Through these lessons, we learn to better evaluate what lies before us and make a better determination as to determining our personal ROI.