Generally speaking, investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents, nobody can tax it or take it away from you.
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The day my CEO offered me the CIO role, I hadn't applied for it.
I wasn't even on the list of candidates.
I wasn't a programmer.
I wasn't a data scientist.
I wasn't a systems architect.
I had none of the technical credentials people assume a CIO needs.
But my CEO had been watching me for years.
He saw the relationships I'd built across the business. The teams I'd shaped. The way I thought creatively when problems didn't have obvious answers.
When the role opened up, he handpicked me. No interview rounds. No external search. Just a tap on the shoulder.
He told me he could hire technical experts. The business needed someone they already trusted.
That sticks with me now. Especially as AI automates every technical credential I used to think mattered.
What you're actually investing in
Warren Buffett has a line I keep coming back to.
"Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents, nobody can tax it or take it away from you."
The question is what you're investing IN.
Most people invest in things that look impressive on a resume.
Degrees
Certifications
Tools
Tactics that work until the next platform makes them obsolete.
The skills that actually compound look different.
I created an infographic on the 16 skills that pay you back forever. Click the thumbnail above for the high-res version.
The World Economic Forum's latest Future of Jobs report tells a similar story.
The top skills employers want by 2030:
Analytical thinking
Resilience
Leadership
Curiosity
Lifelong learning
Notice what's missing. Specific tools. Specific software. Specific certifications.
The pattern is clear. Durable skills outpace technical ones over a career.
The 4 categories that compound
Every high-leverage skill I've watched pay off for the leaders I coach falls into one of 4 categories.
Self-leadership. How you manage your time, your money, your energy, your reactions under pressure. Nobody else can develop this for you. And it shows up in every other category.
Communication. How clearly you express a thought. How well you listen. How effectively you persuade. AI can write words. It can't read a room while it speaks.
Judgment. Making a good decision with incomplete information. The skill nobody can teach in a classroom. AI can recommend options. You still have to choose.
Relationships. Trust. Empathy. Conflict resolution. Setting boundaries with people who drain you. The currency of every career is people. That's never been more true.
How to actually invest
Most people consume content about these skills and call it investment. Practice is what makes it count.
These 4 actions have worked for me and the leaders I’ve mentored.
Pick one skill per quarter. Not 16. One. Pick the one with the highest current leverage. Work on it for 90 days. Move on.
Find a real-world rep. Skills compound through use. Each week, put yourself in one situation that requires the skill. Hard conversation. Decision under pressure. Tough negotiation.
Get feedback from someone honest. Self-assessment is unreliable. Find one person who will tell you honestly how you're showing up. A coach. A mentor. A peer who's earned that role.
Track the moments. Keep a running note of moments where the skill mattered. Wins. Misses. Patterns. Looking back over a year of notes is one of the most clarifying exercises you can do.
One more thing
The skills on that infographic aren't “soft skills”. They're durable.
They're the only ones that compound across every job, every economy, every technology wave you'll live through.
Pick one skill. Practice it weekly. Get honest feedback. Track the moments.
That's the investment.
So today, do this.
Open a doc. Write down the skill you'd most like to be known for in 12 months. Write down one situation this week where you can practice it. Put it on your calendar.
The investment starts the next time you show up.
Until next time, keep being brilliant,
Justin
P.S. What city are you reading from? Hit reply with just your city.
