Are you making the best investment in your life? In this insightful episode of Finance for Physicians, your host Daniel Wrenne takes a unique approach to the age-old question of the best investment. Join Daniel as he shares a compelling story of a physician, Diana Londoño, who made a life-changing $33,000 investment in herself.
Discover the unconventional path Diana took to overcome burnout and achieve remarkable success. Instead of traditional investments like stocks or businesses, she chose to invest in personal development. Daniel explores how this investment not only transformed her life but also enhanced her skills as a physician.
In a thought-provoking discussion, Daniel delves into the often-neglected aspect of personal growth beyond medical education. He challenges listeners to evaluate their self-care practices and consider where they are on their journey outside of medicine.
From health and finance to professional and personal development, Daniel shares practical examples of investments in oneself. Whether it’s hiring a personal trainer, seeking financial guidance, or exploring spiritual growth, every small step counts.
Join Daniel as he encourages you to reflect on your life, identify areas for improvement, and take the first step toward investing in yourself. Discover how these investments can lead to a more fulfilling and balanced life.
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Full Episode Transcript:
Daniel Wrenne: What’s up guys. Hope you’re having a great day. I am excited about the conversation today that I’m planning. it’s a very, very common question we get probably the most common question. I think we’re going to take it a little bit of a different direction that you might expect. So I think it’ll be interesting.
We’re going to be talking about what is the best investment available for you. And so. I think, you know, this is going to be helpful to kind of think through and hopefully you can get some value out of it. So, before I get into that, so this came up recently, I was having a conversation with a guest on my other podcast finance for physicians, and it was, Diana Lodonio.
She’s a physician, urologist, in LA and has a lot of other entrepreneurial stuff going on. So the conversation was us talking about mindset and using that as a tool to help improve your life or reduce burnout and manage burnout specifically. So she shared something I thought was really [00:01:00] interesting.
And so she shared how she made this 33, 000 investment, kind of like on the back end of her being burned out herself. And how fantastic it was. It was like the best investment she ever made, you know, tenfold. And it really changed her life. And it was just a, just a home run. And so it got me thinking about it.
I’m like, man, that. Um, that is such a good example. I think we’ve kind of forget this investment category. And so that’s what I wanted to share with you today.
So let’s talk about that investment that she made. so the, you know, unique part about this is she invested in herself. So I’m sure you were expecting like a, you know, traditional investment, like some sort of a business or stock or whatever, but she made the choice to invest 33, 000 was the exact number, in herself.
Dan: And what she did was she hired a business coach life coach, went through courses to become life coach, business coach, coach certified herself. I think there were some other things that she did, but she basically like.[00:02:00] spent some pretty decent money on herself. And so going through that allowed her to really turn the corner of living out her purpose, following her passion, following the values.
And so that, you know, the reason I consider that a home run investment is because, you know, you can’t put a price on that. That’s priceless. Yeah, that’s like life changing. And she also shared what was super interesting, how it’s helped her to become a better physician as well. And so I thought, you know, after the conversation I was thinking about it, I’m like, man, that is such an interesting thing.
It’s funny how, we go through school, especially like med school, you guys. Spent a ton on medical school and it’s a great investment, but it’s, it’s such a expensive thing and you’re really investing in yourself right there. But then, you know, we finished school and it’s kind of like you stop or maybe you mostly stop.
Maybe you’re doing like CMEs or whatever, but. kind of the bare minimum or, you know, maybe you’re doing some extra, but, I just wonder, like, why does that happen? you know, I’m, I’m guilty of that sort of thing myself and I, you know, [00:03:00] every once in a while I’ll think about it, but I think most of you, so this kind of ties into the burnout thing as well.
I think one of the causes of burnout or contributing factors is the fact that. There’s not a lot of like time to recharge and it’s so all in on Medicine and there’s not a lot of self care and so that kind of ties into this I think most of you guys I’m sure you know, all of you guys know medicine really well You’ve spent a ton of time and invested a ton in that and so I would ask like where are you in your journey?
Like how are you developing yourself outside of medicine because I think that’s A lot of times the missing piece of the puzzle and that can help, you know, improve, you know, your overall life. So I think, I think it’s helpful to think about like, if we’re looking at like overall total wellness, like what’s off in my life, like what, uh, what do I need to work on, you know, whether it’s my health, my finances.
Um, you know, maybe it’s, you [00:04:00] know, professional development outside of medicine. maybe it’s like personal, you know, spirituality, like all these things, uh, that people realize are very important, that we may have not given as much attention to. So I think it would be worthwhile to just take a minute to be like, okay, what could I really benefit from improving on in terms of my own self care?
And then how much. just try to maybe invest some, like, you don’t have to go all in on this thing, but like if this played out for you, like it did in the story I’m sharing, you’re going to have a very good result of that investment. And so, you know, whatever it is you want to improve on, give it a shot, like make an investment in yourself, see how.
Uh, turns out, you know, continue to kind of develop that and that’s how you grow. so for example, some examples I’ll throw out that I’ve seen people, do and even myself, I’ve invested in, you got your health, of course, you know, that’s always a constant challenge is like staying healthy, [00:05:00] especially if you’re working a ton, it’s a difficult balance.
So, I have a personal trainer and That’s a, I would consider that an investment in myself. I’m, I pay them and you know, they help me, you know, accountability in the whole, whole nine yards, making sure I’m working out efficiently. And so that is a very good investment in my health, dietician.
I mean, if you’re struggling with, you know, healthy eating and, even investing in like, uh, you know, the meals that you’re having, like, you know, if you want to improve your health or even go into a doctor, like, You know, yourself, I know y’all are physicians, most of you. And so, I know I’ve talked to many of you, like we’re, a lot of you guys are not great about going to the doctor yourself.
So like, you know, take a minute, uh, that’s a time investment and potentially a financial investment. or maybe switch doctors or, or whatnot. Also groups can be really helpful, like accountability groups or, um, you know, like, to improve your health, investing in gym memberships, or even more full service gym membership type things like CrossFit’s one that comes to mind.
And then education is [00:06:00] really, you know, just straight book, smart education, can be really helpful, learning how you can improve your health. those are all really good investments you can make that will, you know, I think help you turn the corner in that financial, you know, there’s a lot of examples with financial, like you can hire a planner.
That’s what I do in my day job. Like we, are providing some education sprinkled in along with what we do. And so, you know, that can help, Set that foundation and make a plan and, really just start to identify what you need to work on, or courses. There’s all kinds of like financial courses out there now, like, uh, how to, do finances better or personal finance stuff or budgeting coaches.
There’s budgeting coaches. You can like pay them to kind of sit with you and help you really nail down on what you’re spending and where it’s going. And if that’s something you want to work on, financial therapy, like finances are really. Interesting because, you know, it ties into everything else in life.
So if you’ve had, I guess, you know, all of us have had, you know, challenges in the past, but especially if there’s been financial [00:07:00] experiences in your past that kind of hinder your ability to. make good balanced financial decisions. Financial therapy can be fantastic. There’s, dedicated financial therapists that are out there, that you can work with and, even if you’re not sure if that’s the issue, if you’re kind of unsure, sometimes that’s a sign that there is an issue.
So financial therapy can work with that kind of working through that past experience of, you know, financial stuff that’s causing you, . Problems now. so, and then professionally you got coaches, you can hire, if you’re, if you’re running a business, there’s all kinds of things you can invest in. You can hire consultants, even really employees.
but, taking courses, hiring coaches, all of you can kind of benefit from that mastermind groups. I think are fantastic. You know, where you can be with a group of, uh, like minded peers that are all striving to improve. You know, professionally, really, they have mastermind groups for all different categories, conferences, those can be good and maybe trying something outside the traditional, you know, CME type thing, like getting, going to a marketing conference or something like, or even paying, [00:08:00] I talked to a guy the other day, he is a consultant that helps physicians, build their LinkedIn profile, which I’m like, man, that is super niche.
But those kinds of things exist. That’s the nice thing about, you know, the internet now and everybody being virtual. There’s all kinds of niche businesses that exist that can really help you, that you can invest in that will help you improve as a person. And then personal, you know, you got therapy and counseling and life coaching.
And I think, if you’re having trouble knowing like where to start or Maybe you’re just, feeling stuck or you’re having trouble executing. or there’s some stuff in the past, some like pain points. whether it be, you know, marriage or family or childhood is most commonly the thing. Like therapy can be fantastic.
I think everybody would benefit from therapy. Counseling can be also, you know, a similar thing. Like marriage counseling, I think everybody would benefit from that. life coaching. Um, is more kind of looking to the future. Like what do you want to accomplish? Where do you want your life to go? And so that can be a really valuable, investment in [00:09:00] yourself if you don’t have an idea, a clear picture of like where you want to take this thing, if you’re having trouble with that.
So life coach can be very good there. and then, you know, you got spiritual, there’s all kinds of things you can read conferences, you know, you can go. can talk to, uh, you know, people, you know, within whatever particular area of spirituality you’re leaning into that will provide kind of one on one help and growth.
And, and there’s, there’s all kinds of stuff even within that category. So what I would challenge you to do is look at your budget and, and think about how much are you investing in yourself. And if the number is really low, it would be, you know, worthwhile to ask like, why, and. Look at all the areas of your life, you know, wellness wise and identify where you potentially need attention and say, you know, take, take a step to make an investment in that area.
And I’d be curious to see how it goes. I am very optimistic that it will turn out being the best investment you ever make. But, I’m curious to, to hear [00:10:00] from you guys on how that works. I think it’s a, you don’t have to figure all this out overnight too. A small step is the key. Like taking a small step to get started is really where it’s at.
So hope this has been helpful as always. Enjoy chatting with you and we’ll see you next time.
