22. The Investment That Accelerates Your Leadership and Personal Power
What’s one thing you can do to start enjoying your experience of life more while accelerating your growth as a leader? In 2015, I started my journey of coaching, self-investment, and personal development, and it wasn’t long before I noticed everything start to change.
Coaching transformed my relationships, made me a better leader, and opened up amazing career opportunities, but it also had a massive ripple effect, positively impacting the people around me. The continual investment in myself has paid off, and I continue to invest in myself a decade later. Have you ever wondered what would change if you invested in your leadership and personal power?
Tune in this week to discover why investing in yourself is the most impactful investment you can make. You’ll learn why so many women are reluctant to invest in themselves, and I share practical tips to help you begin nurturing yourself and your growth as a leader, becoming your most valuable asset.
Whether you're leading a team, making big bold decisions, or tackling tough conversations, confidence is the key to showing up powerfully. That's why I created the Confidence Hack, a simple yet powerful tool that has helped tons of women just like you break free from limiting beliefs and step fully into their potential.
Click here to download the Confidence Hack for free now!
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
How coaching transforms your mindset, emotional resilience, and overall life satisfaction.
Why women (especially those in male-dominated spaces) need to start prioritizing self-investment.
The profound impact coaching has had on my personal and professional life.
How investing in yourself creates a ripple effect on your relationships, career, and even on your loved ones.
The long-term benefits of consistently investing in your growth, just like top athletes do.
Strategies for funding your self-investment, whether through your company or personal means.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Featured on the Show:
If you haven’t already, please follow the podcast and leave a rating and review to let me know what you think. Find complete instructions here!
Full Episode Transcript:
What if I told you that the best investment you could ever make is in yourself? It's not stocks, real estate, or even the latest venture. It's definitely not crypto. It's in your growth, clarity, and emotional wealth.
Today, I'll share why investing in yourself is the ultimate game-changer and how it can transform every aspect of your life, just as it did for me. Think of this… just like top athletes invest in their bodies and minds to reach their full potential, We, as corporate leaders, need to do the same. You are your greatest asset.
Welcome to The Balanced Leader, hosted by Yann Dang, a Leadership and Life Coach with over 20 years of corporate experience. Drawing from her journey as a former global finance leader and second-generation immigrant, Yann understands the unique challenges women face in male-dominated workplaces.
Each episode offers insights on balancing masculine and feminine energies, mastering soft skills, and building emotional intelligence. Join us to transform frustration into empowerment and unlock your authentic leadership potential.
Hey podcast listeners, today's episode is on the power of investing in yourself and how coaching can truly transform your life. This episode actually comes at a really timely moment for me because I started my journey with personal life coaching in 2015. Really, actually right on this mark. I think I maybe started it January of 2015, and it was a struggle.
So I wanted to share a bit about what it was for me and how it totally transformed and changed my life, both personally and professionally. And then I want to dive into why this is so important for you to consider in your life as you are the greatest asset of your life. So we are gonna dive into all of that, but let me just start with who I was back in 2015.
I actually had a pretty amazing life. I had come back to Chicago from living abroad for about five years. I spent two years in Singapore and then three years before that in London and then before that five years in New York City. So I was about 30 when I started my personal coaching journey, learning about myself. And I wanted to tell you that I was highly successful. I was actually really good at my job. I was always a good deliverer and I was able to expertly use my technical abilities and I think I had a fair amount of emotional intelligence. I had lots of friends and the thing that was just not working in my life was not actually something professional. It was actually more personal.
I had these long relationships that would just end in breakups and they were super painful. And I felt like I never knew what was going on or how it hit me. And I was just at that point. So, I wanted to share that I had two really long relationships, one that started actually when I was in college and I think I was a junior in college.
It ended up, actually, I moved to New York City to be with my boyfriend who was going to school at the time in North Carolina. This relationship was really a defining moment for me. Of course, I was like 19 or 20 at the time and I just didn't really have a strong sense of self. You know, I knew things that I liked, but I hadn't been in a relationship.
And when that relationship ended, I was like, had a lot of learnings, had my own personal transformation, but never actually got coaching around any of it, but I know I was feeling lots of emotions. And of course, like anybody, you want to avoid your emotions because they feel like they're too much. Like, sometimes people feel like they're literally going to die, right? Especially if it's like your first big heartbreak.
And so I ended up moving to London and I was dating for a year and then I met this other guy. I was like, it's going to be more intentional and all these types of things, all these sort of promises that I made myself because I was like, I'm going to figure it out. You know, I'm somebody who can figure things out.
So I had this relationship and he was a British guy. We ended up moving to Singapore together. Lots of really exciting, fun memories, but it ended up the same way. I was very shocked when it happened. It was about five years into our relationship, I think at the time, so then it was, you know, I'm basically so many years of relationship experience, and I, again, felt just floored by it. I was like, what is going on?
I actually had this whole plan. Me and him were going to take a year off and travel around the world and then move back to the US. We were going to start our life in San Francisco and hopefully start a family. Well, about a month before all of our travel plans, he came to me and was like, I'm just not feeling this. And I was really upset, very heartbroken, didn't know how to deal with it. And at the time, I just remember being like, I don't know how to deal with this. And I decided to go back to Chicago.
And I remember specifically, he was like, "Why don't you try to stay and we can try to work this out?" And I was like, "Listen, I know my skill set and I don't know how to figure out this. I don't know what's wrong. I don't know how to make it right. So the only way that I will stay and work on this relationship is if we get therapy or counseling or coaching or something." Because I was like, I don't know. So I was self-aware enough in myself to know, like, I don't know what to do about this, and I'm not about to put everything in my life on hold to figure it out without some expert support. And so he was not into that. And so it kind of gave me peace to know like, okay, so he's not willing to take that next step with me. And so it gave me clarity to move.
I was still having lots of upsetting feelings. And around the same time, my brother had been doing a lot of his own personal coaching, two of my brothers actually. So much so that they were expressing so much emotion in our family, so much anger, so many different ways of being that I was very threatened by it. A lot of our family were threatened by it. It was very disruptive to our family system. But I also realized that through his getting personal coaching, I felt closer to him and he was sharing with me in a much more vulnerable way.
And I always thought I was very emotionally intelligent, but the more that I was kind of learning about this and the more he invited me into his sort of coaching group, the more I was like, maybe there's something to learn here. But I want to share it with you because I think a lot of women will relate to this. I remember I did a whole weekend and I remember there was a point in the second day of the weekend. And I was like, either I am going to open myself up to the possibility of this coaching working for me and learning about myself and really diving in deeply, or I'm going to sit here and judge everyone and feel like they all drink the Kool-Aid and be super skeptical.
So I just knew like, again, I had enough emotional intelligence to be onto myself and know, wow, I'm really like either in a judgmental mode about all this or I'm really open to learning and expanding and seeing what is possible for me. So I chose to decide to dive into it and really be open to what was possible for me because I knew there were skill sets that I lacked and I had a lot of upsetting experiences that I wanted to change in the future but I just didn't know how. So I was kind of like, I'm not sure if this is the right answer for me, but I'm willing to try. I am in so much pain that I'm willing to try to figure it out.
And what actually happened was I was very skeptical, again, even about making the investment in myself for this, because I was like, I'm not sure if this is going to work. And I remember my brother being like, you know, there was like four quarters to this coaching program. And he's like, let me pay for the first quarter for you. Let me do this for you so you can experience this.
I was so touched by that. I was so touched that he was willing. And at this point I was making more money than him in my career versus him. He's my older brother, but just where my career led me in finance and those types of things, my brain kind of stopped and was like, what? You're willing to do this for me? And then I also had this question for myself of like, why aren't you willing to do this for yourself? Like, why are you not willing to invest? And I realized for me, it was my skepticism and my fear of commitment.
And so I actually talked to the coaching people about like different payment plans. And somebody was like, why don't you just pay month to month and see how it goes and you know put your toe in the water and then you know if you get a lot out of it you stick with it if you don't, you know you can just stop and so this always helps me to know that it's not all or nothing because it just helps me want to try things out without feeling like I'm heavily committed to something.
And what actually ended up happening was I started this coaching and I basically kept going in these different programs and learning so much about myself.
And when I look back, it was a pivotal moment for me. I was in my thirties to figuring out my personal life, but as I was working on myself, as I was getting this coaching, it deeply impacted me fully as a person. And I told you I was already successful at work. But this made me even more successful. People started not noticing me just for my technical expertise but for my ability to take a risk, for my emotional intelligence, for so many things that just started changing because I was working on myself as a full person.
And what ended up happening is like, if I look now, it's 2025. And I have spent I actually haven't done all of the math, but I'm pretty sure I've spent around $300,000 on coaching. And here's what I have to say about this, because some people might look at that number and be like, that is crazy. That's crazy. But here's what I want you to consider for yourself, that if you can invest in something that's yourself, that will help you create more possibilities for yourself, that will help you take on more risk, that will give you the emotional resiliency and the emotional wealth to deal with life effectively with mental clarity and really open up the world of possibilities for yourself and relationships with other people.
I want you to ask yourself, why would it not be worth it to invest in yourself in that way? Even dipping your toe in the water, but I want you to notice what might come up for yourself. But this is really what I think is an important question, especially for women in male-dominated spaces, because other people have trainers in their lives. People just don't talk about it. Most CEOs you know, most leaders you know, they're gonna have a coach. They may have a therapist, they may have a nutritionist, they may have a personal coach.
When I think about myself, like all of the things that I've gotten coaching for in my life, I've gotten coaching around myself personally, I've gotten coaching for my business, I've gotten coaching for relationships, I see a couples therapist, like I've gotten coaching for so many things and I love that it gives me the ability to figure out my world, to manage my stress levels, to understand my emotions and to track more and more of what I want in my life. And it might be a new thing.
It's not like my mom, especially being, you know, a child, a second-generation immigrant, it's not like anybody in our family had gotten coaching. So it may be highly threatening to the people around you, but this is really about you, and self-investment in yourself, and self-empowerment. So I want you to consider this as a path to transformation, even just making the decision that you're worthy of this level of investment. Because it's about yourself personally, professionally, and emotionally.
And when athletes invest in themselves through coaching and training, they unlock new levels of performance, mindset shifts, emotional shifts. But oftentimes we don't see that for ourselves as corporate leaders and being in the world. And we don't see ourselves fully as the asset that we need to protect and that we need to invest in. It actually, the same is true for us in leadership. When we invest in our personal growth, we unlock potential for massive transformations. And there's a ripple effect for that.
You know, investing in yourself positively impacts your relationships, careers, and sense of self-worth. When you're emotionally wealthy and clear-headed, you make better decisions, you handle stress more effectively, and you show up as your best self in every area of your life. It is a ripple effect when you invest in yourself. Everyone around you benefits.
And there are powerful stats around this about how personal investment pays off for the future to come for yourself. The International Coach Federation, the ICF, reports that 80% of people who invest in coaching report increased self-confidence and over 70% benefit from improved work performance.
Investing in yourself isn't just a one-time deal. Just like athletes build strength and endurance over time, the benefits of investing in yourself compound over the years. And really thinking about this as you investing in the possibilities for yourself to come. When I look back and I think about the investments that I made back in 2015, I remember being like, that's a lot of money.
But actually now being on the other side of it, I'm like, I would have paid double, I would have paid triple, knowing the life that I've been able to create for myself, knowing the partner that I was able to attract, knowing the relationships that I was able to create, knowing how different my life is in this like, I mean, I almost feel like I was living in 2D for a long time because I didn't have this relationship with my emotions and deep connections with other people because I wasn't able to connect with myself in that way. And now I really feel like I have a very full and alive life. And that wouldn't have been possible if I didn't choose to invest in myself and create again, more possibilities, more emotional awareness.
And I also want to underline why women deserve to invest in themselves. I think there is a lot of chatter and I would have you think about, you know, women in your life. Have you seen them invest in themselves? If you were like me, again, my mom had four kids. My grandma, you know, had more than 10 kids. Like these women did not invest in themselves. They had to go out in the world and do all these things.
Although I do think about my mom, she invested in getting her hair cutting license. She always wanted to learn English, so she invested in some of those skill sets. But oftentimes we don't have those types of examples. We usually have… many of us grew up seeing our mothers and role models pour all their energy into others, children, work, partners often leaving very little for themselves.
But what if you rewrite that story? What if we realize that investing in ourselves is the best way to serve those around us? I think most people don't invest in themselves, especially, you know, women, because they feel like they should put other people first. And so then they think this investment in themselves is somehow selfish, irresponsible. They start hesitating. They also fear who they'll become if they start giving themselves these opportunities to see themselves in a bigger light. They worry that people around them won't feel comfortable.
But here's the thing, investing in yourself with that ripple effect that we talked about… but it's really about you are showing other people in your life that they can also put themselves first, that you're worthy of growth, transformation, and support.
So if you think about it, again, if we think about athletes, don't hesitate to invest in their growth. They know they need it. Everybody has one. They have nutritionists, they have mental mindset coaches, they have actual physical coaches. It's essential to how they perform their best.
And if you're a woman leader and you are responsible, a lot of the women that I coach, they are actually the breadwinner of their family. They provide all of the financial needs of the family. And so if you think about this, if you are highly stressed and burnt out, you being the asset, right, you're underinvested in yourself. I want you to think about it that way.
But the more you invest in yourself, your mindset, your emotional health, the bigger you're going to be able to show up at work. And when that happens, the more opportunities you're going to get, the more promotions you're going to get, and the more you're going to be going to get an income for the rest of your life because you have done this investment.
So it's really about you believing in your potential to grow and thrive and using this investment as a way to, again, create even more stability and more generational wealth for your family. But I want you to notice that's a big mindset shift for women because oftentimes they're like, no, I need to use this money.
Like a lot of women that I coach, they're like, we have all this money for private school for our kids. And I'm like, yes, but what about you? What about you being somebody who is role modeling for their kids what it's like to really thrive at work, to feel energized by work, to feel really empowered?
What about you showing up happy and excited to be in your life, not just sacrificing, not just giving your kid everything that they need because you want the best for them, but you're not giving it to yourself. And they see their mom as somebody who's overworked, stressed, and highly anxious.
I want you to know that is not a reality you have to live in if that's something that you're experiencing. We just want to know as women leaders and as women who command our money, who take care of the finances of the house, that putting yourself first and investing in yourself is not selfish. It's actually one of the most, and I would actually say it is the most responsible thing you could do in order to have this ripple effect, in order to create more stability for your family. You getting burnt out, you feeling like you have to be in a toxic environment because you have to provide for your family is not good for you and is not gonna be good for your family in the long run.
So really thinking about it this way because there are very strong cultural limiting beliefs and just limiting beliefs that we have. Women hold themselves back. They don't invest in themselves because they feel like they have that imposter syndrome, that self-doubt or that feeling that they just don't deserve it. Meanwhile, athletes do it all the time. Meanwhile, CEOs do it and other leaders do it all the time.
We often feel we need to prove ourselves before we can invest in our own growth. We set this really high standard for ourselves. But the truth is, investing in yourself is what helps you break through those limiting beliefs and steps into your full power.
I think a lot of times people are like I need to try it on my own. I'm gonna figure it out myself. It's almost like I don't know women are putting this like high standard for themselves versus being like, I'm going to choose to be somebody who's going to get these results. I'm going to choose to be someone who enters in a coaching or whatever program, and I'm going to choose to get the most out of it for me and be really decisive and be really methodical and be really focused on their own growth, and be super intentional.
It is deciding who you are when you decide to invest in yourself. You decide your worth, you decide your empowerment. I also have a lot of women who come to me and say, listen, I love what you have to say. I think I could learn so much, but let me go see if my company will pay for it.
And here's what I want to say about that. I'm always like, this is great. If you want to go ask your company, I always empower my clients to ask for things and this is part of it. But what I don't want my clients to do is to put their own empowerment, their own ability to invest in themselves and to take care of themselves in the hands of someone else.
So what happens a lot of times is women get super excited and then they go and they go ask their boss. And their boss says, hey, this sounds really great, but we have budget cuts and we can't fund this. And so as a woman leader, you can either say, okay, great, you can't fund this, but this is so important for me to get these results, to take care of myself, to invest in myself, then I will go ahead and do that. But I want you to know that this is rare. A lot of women don't do that. They end up saying, well, the company's not paying for it. They end up feeling resentful to the company. They end up feeling like they're stuck. But that's a choice. I just wanna underline the power in that choice.
And I also coach my clients. It's super powerful to go to your boss and say, listen, and this is what I used to do, I would go to my bosses and literally say to them, hey, I am going to do this coaching program because I know how I could personally benefit, but also how the company could benefit it. And I would give them reasons of how the company would benefit, but I would also share with them, I so strongly believe in this that I will pay for it myself if you guys aren't willing to.
There is just this subtle piece of you putting yourself on the line, you saying, this is so important. I've done the due diligence. I'm personally going to invest because I personally believe I'm going to grow from this and that I'm going to get the return on investment for this, versus, again, going back to the company and saying, listen, will you invest in me? Will you put your money up front? And oftentimes people will say, no, we just don't have the budget for it. And it's actually not personal. But what ends up happening is you either can choose to feel disempowered or you can empower yourself.
This is really the difference between self-empowerment and expecting others to empower you. You can take the reins of your life and invest in yourself. The other thing people do, well, sometimes it will be like, let me ask people in my life.
Because again, if you don't feel like you're worth it and you want other people to give you permission, maybe it's your husband, maybe it's your aunt, maybe it's somebody in your life that you really trust a mentor. You just want to notice where you are not choosing yourself and where you're not being that decisive person in your life to say, I know what I need. I know what hits me. I can trust myself to make this decision. I trust myself to get the results. So just notice that for yourself.
And obviously at the very beginning of my coaching journey, like I told you, I was highly skeptical. But what I can tell you is I looked around at my brother and how much he grew. And I looked around at other people and their ability to express emotion and their ability to bounce back quickly. And I said, I want that. I want that skill for me. And I'm worth it. I'm worth investing in that for myself.
So again, these are things that you want to be thinking about because these are some of the limiting beliefs that can really hold you back from having this personal transformation. And, you know, coaching not only helps you achieve your goals, but it transforms the way you see yourself and the world around you. Coaching doesn't just help you achieve those personal things that you check off of your list. It changes your entire mindset.
You know, when I used to be dating, I think my purpose or my goal was always to get married, as if the marriage was the end game. Well, listen, I'm married now, and I still am getting coaching on how to be married and how to transition from being single to married to having kids. These are all transitions, and they're all challenges that we need to navigate.
We have a very complex world, and there is help for us to navigate it with confidence, learning how to trust yourself, and how to take control of your life and career and take it in a way that empowers you and gives you more opportunities and the ability to, you know, have whatever you want. And that is just invaluable.
So you want to also think about like just like athletes have a coach for every area of their life, nutrition, mindset, strategy. We need coaches to help us with emotional, mental, and professional aspects of our lives. You don't have to do it alone.
And of course you can choose to do it alone. I'm just telling you that your competition is gonna accelerate a lot faster and you may be left behind. You may have the power in yourself to get the support you need to get to that next level, but it will be overcoming these limiting beliefs about whether you're worthy, whether you can trust yourself, whether you're going to get that return on investment. And so I want you to take this seriously for yourself and really think about this of how you've invested in yourself and even how maybe you haven't invested in yourself and you feel some of that regret.
So I wanted to share a story about one of my clients who's demonstrating the transformative power of investing in coaching. We've actually been coaching together for 6 months and she wanted to coach together for another 6 months, but her company wasn't willing to pay for it. She is the only financial provider in the family right now. Her husband's going to go back to work shortly as her child gets a little bit older, but right now she's that person. And they just bought a house. So there was a lot of money going out.
But she was saying that this was important for her. And we had talked about different ways of her funding this. She could, of course, ask her parents. She could, of course, ask her boss again, even though her boss said no the first time. But what we really came down to is what is the most empowered way of moving towards this, right, of funding this?
And she actually came to the decision of, "I don't want to ask my parents. They've already had so much power over me, and I don't wanna feel like I have to explain myself to them. I'm going to choose to invest in myself, and I'm gonna choose to make this decision for me and my family."
And just with that decision, I mean, she felt a lot of fear, so I want to also share that this isn't easy. She felt some fear, but she also felt super confident and empowered. And recently what she shared with me is her grandpa passed away, and she was telling me how, as she's looking at his estate, and how he left very little for his wife, her grandma.
And she talked about how in her family it is a normal cycle to just deal with the suffering, the pain in the moment and just get through it versus getting help, strategically planning through things, and really setting yourself up for bigger and bolder things out in the world. Better jobs, better opportunities, bigger leadership roles that can actually impact the legacy that she's leaving for her family, shaping the generational wealth that she's going to be able to provide. There's an expansive piece to this. And she was saying how important it was for her to make this decision to invest in herself and to stop just dealing with the suffering and staying in the stuckness of life versus choosing and attracting new opportunities, new possibilities.
And I want to leave you with that story because this is really for you. If you're feeling stuck, if you feel like you could have more agency in your life, if you're feeling emotionally burnt out, you can get help. And it is important and imperative for you to get help.
I also just talked to somebody who literally is in a job search and she was telling me like how painful the job, her last role was and how her company, you know how she was treated and she was so upset about it. And she had all this emotion and I asked her, when did all this happen? Did this just happen a few months ago? Because the emotions felt like so alive and it seemed like this story had so much control over her and she literally told me, this happened five years ago.
And I shared with her like that there are ways to process this emotion. There are ways to be with this story and reframe it in a way where you feel like you are empowered, where you are attracting more possibilities. And this is an opportunity for you to step into that next level of you. The you that is on the other side of this challenge, the you that has that emotional awareness, the you that is able to overcome this story and not seem like a victim in the story, but actually seem like somebody who is grounded and clear and who made choices and has more choices to make and can be more decisive and has more agency in their life.
So I wanted to share that with you because this is really what it looks like to choose to invest in yourself and how that is the first step of the transformation.
I want to also share that when I started my own practice, my own business, one of the biggest things that I did, and actually looking back, I'm so proud of myself, I barely made any money as a coach because I was just starting out. But what I decided to do was make a $25,000 investment in myself in a six-month coaching program, it was more than I had ever invested in myself in a six-month period. It was even more than my college loans. I had a lot of financial aid, but what it was going to teach me to do was build a multiple six-figure business. And if I believed in myself and I believed in this process and I could believe in the results that I saw other people get, then I could make this choice to invest in myself.
And I was almost saying yes to who I am now. I wouldn't be somebody who has a podcast. I wouldn't be somebody who has a thriving coaching practice if I, you know, three years ago didn't say, I'm worth this. I know I can create this. I know these people can help me. I would not have this accelerated amount of growth if I didn't choose to again invest in my greatest asset which is me and all of the ways that this my choice to create this business has impact my lifestyle how I raise my kids how I support my husband this all has that impact but again, it starts with you believing in that future version of yourself that has overcome whatever challenge you face. It's the you that has the skill sets that you so desire.
I want to leave you with this thought that you have the power to transform your whole life which will create a ripple effect for the world around you, for everyone around you. Lastly, by focusing on the why behind investing in yourself and framing it as essential and an empowering decision, this can really support you to feel inspired and compelled to make this investment, to take that step forward, and to decide you are worth it.
All right, so that's today's call. I want you to just take a moment and think about the ways you've invested in yourself in the past, the commitment that you made for yourself and your growth, and just like an athlete, if you were to take your leadership, your life, and give yourself coaching, what are those things that you would desire to have? What are those pieces that could really support you in the here and now to be who you want to be in the future.
All right, so that is today's episode, the power of investing in yourself and making that pivotal choice for you, the greatest asset in your life. All right, that is today's episode. I will see you next week. Take good care.
Thank you for being a part of The Balanced Leader community. We hope you found today's episode inspiring and actionable. For more resources and to connect with Yann, visit us at aspire-coaching.co. Until next time, keep leading with confidence and purpose.
Today, I'll share why investing in yourself is the ultimate game-changer and how it can transform every aspect of your life, just as it did for me. Think of this… just like top athletes invest in their bodies and minds to reach their full potential, We, as corporate leaders, need to do the same. You are your greatest asset.
Welcome to The Balanced Leader, hosted by Yann Dang, a Leadership and Life Coach with over 20 years of corporate experience. Drawing from her journey as a former global finance leader and second-generation immigrant, Yann understands the unique challenges women face in male-dominated workplaces.
Each episode offers insights on balancing masculine and feminine energies, mastering soft skills, and building emotional intelligence. Join us to transform frustration into empowerment and unlock your authentic leadership potential.
Hey podcast listeners, today's episode is on the power of investing in yourself and how coaching can truly transform your life. This episode actually comes at a really timely moment for me because I started my journey with personal life coaching in 2015. Really, actually right on this mark. I think I maybe started it January of 2015, and it was a struggle.
So I wanted to share a bit about what it was for me and how it totally transformed and changed my life, both personally and professionally. And then I want to dive into why this is so important for you to consider in your life as you are the greatest asset of your life. So we are gonna dive into all of that, but let me just start with who I was back in 2015.
I actually had a pretty amazing life. I had come back to Chicago from living abroad for about five years. I spent two years in Singapore and then three years before that in London and then before that five years in New York City. So I was about 30 when I started my personal coaching journey, learning about myself. And I wanted to tell you that I was highly successful. I was actually really good at my job. I was always a good deliverer and I was able to expertly use my technical abilities and I think I had a fair amount of emotional intelligence. I had lots of friends and the thing that was just not working in my life was not actually something professional. It was actually more personal.
I had these long relationships that would just end in breakups and they were super painful. And I felt like I never knew what was going on or how it hit me. And I was just at that point. So, I wanted to share that I had two really long relationships, one that started actually when I was in college and I think I was a junior in college.
It ended up, actually, I moved to New York City to be with my boyfriend who was going to school at the time in North Carolina. This relationship was really a defining moment for me. Of course, I was like 19 or 20 at the time and I just didn't really have a strong sense of self. You know, I knew things that I liked, but I hadn't been in a relationship.
And when that relationship ended, I was like, had a lot of learnings, had my own personal transformation, but never actually got coaching around any of it, but I know I was feeling lots of emotions. And of course, like anybody, you want to avoid your emotions because they feel like they're too much. Like, sometimes people feel like they're literally going to die, right? Especially if it's like your first big heartbreak.
And so I ended up moving to London and I was dating for a year and then I met this other guy. I was like, it's going to be more intentional and all these types of things, all these sort of promises that I made myself because I was like, I'm going to figure it out. You know, I'm somebody who can figure things out.
So I had this relationship and he was a British guy. We ended up moving to Singapore together. Lots of really exciting, fun memories, but it ended up the same way. I was very shocked when it happened. It was about five years into our relationship, I think at the time, so then it was, you know, I'm basically so many years of relationship experience, and I, again, felt just floored by it. I was like, what is going on?
I actually had this whole plan. Me and him were going to take a year off and travel around the world and then move back to the US. We were going to start our life in San Francisco and hopefully start a family. Well, about a month before all of our travel plans, he came to me and was like, I'm just not feeling this. And I was really upset, very heartbroken, didn't know how to deal with it. And at the time, I just remember being like, I don't know how to deal with this. And I decided to go back to Chicago.
And I remember specifically, he was like, "Why don't you try to stay and we can try to work this out?" And I was like, "Listen, I know my skill set and I don't know how to figure out this. I don't know what's wrong. I don't know how to make it right. So the only way that I will stay and work on this relationship is if we get therapy or counseling or coaching or something." Because I was like, I don't know. So I was self-aware enough in myself to know, like, I don't know what to do about this, and I'm not about to put everything in my life on hold to figure it out without some expert support. And so he was not into that. And so it kind of gave me peace to know like, okay, so he's not willing to take that next step with me. And so it gave me clarity to move.
I was still having lots of upsetting feelings. And around the same time, my brother had been doing a lot of his own personal coaching, two of my brothers actually. So much so that they were expressing so much emotion in our family, so much anger, so many different ways of being that I was very threatened by it. A lot of our family were threatened by it. It was very disruptive to our family system. But I also realized that through his getting personal coaching, I felt closer to him and he was sharing with me in a much more vulnerable way.
And I always thought I was very emotionally intelligent, but the more that I was kind of learning about this and the more he invited me into his sort of coaching group, the more I was like, maybe there's something to learn here. But I want to share it with you because I think a lot of women will relate to this. I remember I did a whole weekend and I remember there was a point in the second day of the weekend. And I was like, either I am going to open myself up to the possibility of this coaching working for me and learning about myself and really diving in deeply, or I'm going to sit here and judge everyone and feel like they all drink the Kool-Aid and be super skeptical.
So I just knew like, again, I had enough emotional intelligence to be onto myself and know, wow, I'm really like either in a judgmental mode about all this or I'm really open to learning and expanding and seeing what is possible for me. So I chose to decide to dive into it and really be open to what was possible for me because I knew there were skill sets that I lacked and I had a lot of upsetting experiences that I wanted to change in the future but I just didn't know how. So I was kind of like, I'm not sure if this is the right answer for me, but I'm willing to try. I am in so much pain that I'm willing to try to figure it out.
And what actually happened was I was very skeptical, again, even about making the investment in myself for this, because I was like, I'm not sure if this is going to work. And I remember my brother being like, you know, there was like four quarters to this coaching program. And he's like, let me pay for the first quarter for you. Let me do this for you so you can experience this.
I was so touched by that. I was so touched that he was willing. And at this point I was making more money than him in my career versus him. He's my older brother, but just where my career led me in finance and those types of things, my brain kind of stopped and was like, what? You're willing to do this for me? And then I also had this question for myself of like, why aren't you willing to do this for yourself? Like, why are you not willing to invest? And I realized for me, it was my skepticism and my fear of commitment.
And so I actually talked to the coaching people about like different payment plans. And somebody was like, why don't you just pay month to month and see how it goes and you know put your toe in the water and then you know if you get a lot out of it you stick with it if you don't, you know you can just stop and so this always helps me to know that it's not all or nothing because it just helps me want to try things out without feeling like I'm heavily committed to something.
And what actually ended up happening was I started this coaching and I basically kept going in these different programs and learning so much about myself.
And when I look back, it was a pivotal moment for me. I was in my thirties to figuring out my personal life, but as I was working on myself, as I was getting this coaching, it deeply impacted me fully as a person. And I told you I was already successful at work. But this made me even more successful. People started not noticing me just for my technical expertise but for my ability to take a risk, for my emotional intelligence, for so many things that just started changing because I was working on myself as a full person.
And what ended up happening is like, if I look now, it's 2025. And I have spent I actually haven't done all of the math, but I'm pretty sure I've spent around $300,000 on coaching. And here's what I have to say about this, because some people might look at that number and be like, that is crazy. That's crazy. But here's what I want you to consider for yourself, that if you can invest in something that's yourself, that will help you create more possibilities for yourself, that will help you take on more risk, that will give you the emotional resiliency and the emotional wealth to deal with life effectively with mental clarity and really open up the world of possibilities for yourself and relationships with other people.
I want you to ask yourself, why would it not be worth it to invest in yourself in that way? Even dipping your toe in the water, but I want you to notice what might come up for yourself. But this is really what I think is an important question, especially for women in male-dominated spaces, because other people have trainers in their lives. People just don't talk about it. Most CEOs you know, most leaders you know, they're gonna have a coach. They may have a therapist, they may have a nutritionist, they may have a personal coach.
When I think about myself, like all of the things that I've gotten coaching for in my life, I've gotten coaching around myself personally, I've gotten coaching for my business, I've gotten coaching for relationships, I see a couples therapist, like I've gotten coaching for so many things and I love that it gives me the ability to figure out my world, to manage my stress levels, to understand my emotions and to track more and more of what I want in my life. And it might be a new thing.
It's not like my mom, especially being, you know, a child, a second-generation immigrant, it's not like anybody in our family had gotten coaching. So it may be highly threatening to the people around you, but this is really about you, and self-investment in yourself, and self-empowerment. So I want you to consider this as a path to transformation, even just making the decision that you're worthy of this level of investment. Because it's about yourself personally, professionally, and emotionally.
And when athletes invest in themselves through coaching and training, they unlock new levels of performance, mindset shifts, emotional shifts. But oftentimes we don't see that for ourselves as corporate leaders and being in the world. And we don't see ourselves fully as the asset that we need to protect and that we need to invest in. It actually, the same is true for us in leadership. When we invest in our personal growth, we unlock potential for massive transformations. And there's a ripple effect for that.
You know, investing in yourself positively impacts your relationships, careers, and sense of self-worth. When you're emotionally wealthy and clear-headed, you make better decisions, you handle stress more effectively, and you show up as your best self in every area of your life. It is a ripple effect when you invest in yourself. Everyone around you benefits.
And there are powerful stats around this about how personal investment pays off for the future to come for yourself. The International Coach Federation, the ICF, reports that 80% of people who invest in coaching report increased self-confidence and over 70% benefit from improved work performance.
Investing in yourself isn't just a one-time deal. Just like athletes build strength and endurance over time, the benefits of investing in yourself compound over the years. And really thinking about this as you investing in the possibilities for yourself to come. When I look back and I think about the investments that I made back in 2015, I remember being like, that's a lot of money.
But actually now being on the other side of it, I'm like, I would have paid double, I would have paid triple, knowing the life that I've been able to create for myself, knowing the partner that I was able to attract, knowing the relationships that I was able to create, knowing how different my life is in this like, I mean, I almost feel like I was living in 2D for a long time because I didn't have this relationship with my emotions and deep connections with other people because I wasn't able to connect with myself in that way. And now I really feel like I have a very full and alive life. And that wouldn't have been possible if I didn't choose to invest in myself and create again, more possibilities, more emotional awareness.
And I also want to underline why women deserve to invest in themselves. I think there is a lot of chatter and I would have you think about, you know, women in your life. Have you seen them invest in themselves? If you were like me, again, my mom had four kids. My grandma, you know, had more than 10 kids. Like these women did not invest in themselves. They had to go out in the world and do all these things.
Although I do think about my mom, she invested in getting her hair cutting license. She always wanted to learn English, so she invested in some of those skill sets. But oftentimes we don't have those types of examples. We usually have… many of us grew up seeing our mothers and role models pour all their energy into others, children, work, partners often leaving very little for themselves.
But what if you rewrite that story? What if we realize that investing in ourselves is the best way to serve those around us? I think most people don't invest in themselves, especially, you know, women, because they feel like they should put other people first. And so then they think this investment in themselves is somehow selfish, irresponsible. They start hesitating. They also fear who they'll become if they start giving themselves these opportunities to see themselves in a bigger light. They worry that people around them won't feel comfortable.
But here's the thing, investing in yourself with that ripple effect that we talked about… but it's really about you are showing other people in your life that they can also put themselves first, that you're worthy of growth, transformation, and support.
So if you think about it, again, if we think about athletes, don't hesitate to invest in their growth. They know they need it. Everybody has one. They have nutritionists, they have mental mindset coaches, they have actual physical coaches. It's essential to how they perform their best.
And if you're a woman leader and you are responsible, a lot of the women that I coach, they are actually the breadwinner of their family. They provide all of the financial needs of the family. And so if you think about this, if you are highly stressed and burnt out, you being the asset, right, you're underinvested in yourself. I want you to think about it that way.
But the more you invest in yourself, your mindset, your emotional health, the bigger you're going to be able to show up at work. And when that happens, the more opportunities you're going to get, the more promotions you're going to get, and the more you're going to be going to get an income for the rest of your life because you have done this investment.
So it's really about you believing in your potential to grow and thrive and using this investment as a way to, again, create even more stability and more generational wealth for your family. But I want you to notice that's a big mindset shift for women because oftentimes they're like, no, I need to use this money.
Like a lot of women that I coach, they're like, we have all this money for private school for our kids. And I'm like, yes, but what about you? What about you being somebody who is role modeling for their kids what it's like to really thrive at work, to feel energized by work, to feel really empowered?
What about you showing up happy and excited to be in your life, not just sacrificing, not just giving your kid everything that they need because you want the best for them, but you're not giving it to yourself. And they see their mom as somebody who's overworked, stressed, and highly anxious.
I want you to know that is not a reality you have to live in if that's something that you're experiencing. We just want to know as women leaders and as women who command our money, who take care of the finances of the house, that putting yourself first and investing in yourself is not selfish. It's actually one of the most, and I would actually say it is the most responsible thing you could do in order to have this ripple effect, in order to create more stability for your family. You getting burnt out, you feeling like you have to be in a toxic environment because you have to provide for your family is not good for you and is not gonna be good for your family in the long run.
So really thinking about it this way because there are very strong cultural limiting beliefs and just limiting beliefs that we have. Women hold themselves back. They don't invest in themselves because they feel like they have that imposter syndrome, that self-doubt or that feeling that they just don't deserve it. Meanwhile, athletes do it all the time. Meanwhile, CEOs do it and other leaders do it all the time.
We often feel we need to prove ourselves before we can invest in our own growth. We set this really high standard for ourselves. But the truth is, investing in yourself is what helps you break through those limiting beliefs and steps into your full power.
I think a lot of times people are like I need to try it on my own. I'm gonna figure it out myself. It's almost like I don't know women are putting this like high standard for themselves versus being like, I'm going to choose to be somebody who's going to get these results. I'm going to choose to be someone who enters in a coaching or whatever program, and I'm going to choose to get the most out of it for me and be really decisive and be really methodical and be really focused on their own growth, and be super intentional.
It is deciding who you are when you decide to invest in yourself. You decide your worth, you decide your empowerment. I also have a lot of women who come to me and say, listen, I love what you have to say. I think I could learn so much, but let me go see if my company will pay for it.
And here's what I want to say about that. I'm always like, this is great. If you want to go ask your company, I always empower my clients to ask for things and this is part of it. But what I don't want my clients to do is to put their own empowerment, their own ability to invest in themselves and to take care of themselves in the hands of someone else.
So what happens a lot of times is women get super excited and then they go and they go ask their boss. And their boss says, hey, this sounds really great, but we have budget cuts and we can't fund this. And so as a woman leader, you can either say, okay, great, you can't fund this, but this is so important for me to get these results, to take care of myself, to invest in myself, then I will go ahead and do that. But I want you to know that this is rare. A lot of women don't do that. They end up saying, well, the company's not paying for it. They end up feeling resentful to the company. They end up feeling like they're stuck. But that's a choice. I just wanna underline the power in that choice.
And I also coach my clients. It's super powerful to go to your boss and say, listen, and this is what I used to do, I would go to my bosses and literally say to them, hey, I am going to do this coaching program because I know how I could personally benefit, but also how the company could benefit it. And I would give them reasons of how the company would benefit, but I would also share with them, I so strongly believe in this that I will pay for it myself if you guys aren't willing to.
There is just this subtle piece of you putting yourself on the line, you saying, this is so important. I've done the due diligence. I'm personally going to invest because I personally believe I'm going to grow from this and that I'm going to get the return on investment for this, versus, again, going back to the company and saying, listen, will you invest in me? Will you put your money up front? And oftentimes people will say, no, we just don't have the budget for it. And it's actually not personal. But what ends up happening is you either can choose to feel disempowered or you can empower yourself.
This is really the difference between self-empowerment and expecting others to empower you. You can take the reins of your life and invest in yourself. The other thing people do, well, sometimes it will be like, let me ask people in my life.
Because again, if you don't feel like you're worth it and you want other people to give you permission, maybe it's your husband, maybe it's your aunt, maybe it's somebody in your life that you really trust a mentor. You just want to notice where you are not choosing yourself and where you're not being that decisive person in your life to say, I know what I need. I know what hits me. I can trust myself to make this decision. I trust myself to get the results. So just notice that for yourself.
And obviously at the very beginning of my coaching journey, like I told you, I was highly skeptical. But what I can tell you is I looked around at my brother and how much he grew. And I looked around at other people and their ability to express emotion and their ability to bounce back quickly. And I said, I want that. I want that skill for me. And I'm worth it. I'm worth investing in that for myself.
So again, these are things that you want to be thinking about because these are some of the limiting beliefs that can really hold you back from having this personal transformation. And, you know, coaching not only helps you achieve your goals, but it transforms the way you see yourself and the world around you. Coaching doesn't just help you achieve those personal things that you check off of your list. It changes your entire mindset.
You know, when I used to be dating, I think my purpose or my goal was always to get married, as if the marriage was the end game. Well, listen, I'm married now, and I still am getting coaching on how to be married and how to transition from being single to married to having kids. These are all transitions, and they're all challenges that we need to navigate.
We have a very complex world, and there is help for us to navigate it with confidence, learning how to trust yourself, and how to take control of your life and career and take it in a way that empowers you and gives you more opportunities and the ability to, you know, have whatever you want. And that is just invaluable.
So you want to also think about like just like athletes have a coach for every area of their life, nutrition, mindset, strategy. We need coaches to help us with emotional, mental, and professional aspects of our lives. You don't have to do it alone.
And of course you can choose to do it alone. I'm just telling you that your competition is gonna accelerate a lot faster and you may be left behind. You may have the power in yourself to get the support you need to get to that next level, but it will be overcoming these limiting beliefs about whether you're worthy, whether you can trust yourself, whether you're going to get that return on investment. And so I want you to take this seriously for yourself and really think about this of how you've invested in yourself and even how maybe you haven't invested in yourself and you feel some of that regret.
So I wanted to share a story about one of my clients who's demonstrating the transformative power of investing in coaching. We've actually been coaching together for 6 months and she wanted to coach together for another 6 months, but her company wasn't willing to pay for it. She is the only financial provider in the family right now. Her husband's going to go back to work shortly as her child gets a little bit older, but right now she's that person. And they just bought a house. So there was a lot of money going out.
But she was saying that this was important for her. And we had talked about different ways of her funding this. She could, of course, ask her parents. She could, of course, ask her boss again, even though her boss said no the first time. But what we really came down to is what is the most empowered way of moving towards this, right, of funding this?
And she actually came to the decision of, "I don't want to ask my parents. They've already had so much power over me, and I don't wanna feel like I have to explain myself to them. I'm going to choose to invest in myself, and I'm gonna choose to make this decision for me and my family."
And just with that decision, I mean, she felt a lot of fear, so I want to also share that this isn't easy. She felt some fear, but she also felt super confident and empowered. And recently what she shared with me is her grandpa passed away, and she was telling me how, as she's looking at his estate, and how he left very little for his wife, her grandma.
And she talked about how in her family it is a normal cycle to just deal with the suffering, the pain in the moment and just get through it versus getting help, strategically planning through things, and really setting yourself up for bigger and bolder things out in the world. Better jobs, better opportunities, bigger leadership roles that can actually impact the legacy that she's leaving for her family, shaping the generational wealth that she's going to be able to provide. There's an expansive piece to this. And she was saying how important it was for her to make this decision to invest in herself and to stop just dealing with the suffering and staying in the stuckness of life versus choosing and attracting new opportunities, new possibilities.
And I want to leave you with that story because this is really for you. If you're feeling stuck, if you feel like you could have more agency in your life, if you're feeling emotionally burnt out, you can get help. And it is important and imperative for you to get help.
I also just talked to somebody who literally is in a job search and she was telling me like how painful the job, her last role was and how her company, you know how she was treated and she was so upset about it. And she had all this emotion and I asked her, when did all this happen? Did this just happen a few months ago? Because the emotions felt like so alive and it seemed like this story had so much control over her and she literally told me, this happened five years ago.
And I shared with her like that there are ways to process this emotion. There are ways to be with this story and reframe it in a way where you feel like you are empowered, where you are attracting more possibilities. And this is an opportunity for you to step into that next level of you. The you that is on the other side of this challenge, the you that has that emotional awareness, the you that is able to overcome this story and not seem like a victim in the story, but actually seem like somebody who is grounded and clear and who made choices and has more choices to make and can be more decisive and has more agency in their life.
So I wanted to share that with you because this is really what it looks like to choose to invest in yourself and how that is the first step of the transformation.
I want to also share that when I started my own practice, my own business, one of the biggest things that I did, and actually looking back, I'm so proud of myself, I barely made any money as a coach because I was just starting out. But what I decided to do was make a $25,000 investment in myself in a six-month coaching program, it was more than I had ever invested in myself in a six-month period. It was even more than my college loans. I had a lot of financial aid, but what it was going to teach me to do was build a multiple six-figure business. And if I believed in myself and I believed in this process and I could believe in the results that I saw other people get, then I could make this choice to invest in myself.
And I was almost saying yes to who I am now. I wouldn't be somebody who has a podcast. I wouldn't be somebody who has a thriving coaching practice if I, you know, three years ago didn't say, I'm worth this. I know I can create this. I know these people can help me. I would not have this accelerated amount of growth if I didn't choose to again invest in my greatest asset which is me and all of the ways that this my choice to create this business has impact my lifestyle how I raise my kids how I support my husband this all has that impact but again, it starts with you believing in that future version of yourself that has overcome whatever challenge you face. It's the you that has the skill sets that you so desire.
I want to leave you with this thought that you have the power to transform your whole life which will create a ripple effect for the world around you, for everyone around you. Lastly, by focusing on the why behind investing in yourself and framing it as essential and an empowering decision, this can really support you to feel inspired and compelled to make this investment, to take that step forward, and to decide you are worth it.
All right, so that's today's call. I want you to just take a moment and think about the ways you've invested in yourself in the past, the commitment that you made for yourself and your growth, and just like an athlete, if you were to take your leadership, your life, and give yourself coaching, what are those things that you would desire to have? What are those pieces that could really support you in the here and now to be who you want to be in the future.
All right, so that is today's episode, the power of investing in yourself and making that pivotal choice for you, the greatest asset in your life. All right, that is today's episode. I will see you next week. Take good care.
Thank you for being a part of The Balanced Leader community. We hope you found today's episode inspiring and actionable. For more resources and to connect with Yann, visit us at aspire-coaching.co. Until next time, keep leading with confidence and purpose.
Enjoy the Show?
Don’t miss an episode, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, RSS, or wherever you listen to podcasts!
