如果你足夠幸運，在2015年底獲得一筆獎金，或者收到一筆退稅款，你可能正在思考把錢放在什么地方合適。對于新一年的投資對象，你也許有許多考慮，但為什么不把自己也看做是投資對象呢？

在你自己身上、你的收入潛力和幸福感上投資至少1000美元，這會有多很多好處。

首先是增加投資的多元化。作家布萊恩?富蘭克林表示：“投資一些你自己可以控制的事情，總是更安全的。”是的，想想看，你也許很難改變新興市場上一只交易基金的績效，但對于你能否能夠得到加薪，你卻可以施加巨大的影響力。

其次，回報是巨大的。富蘭克林稱：“如果你給自己投資，努力提高你對其他人、社區和家庭的價值，你就可以切實改變你的未來或者人生處境。”

那么，怎么投資才能帶來最大的潛在回報呢？以下這些值得考慮：

投資超級技能。日常工作技能很重要，但你每天已經對這些技能進行了大量的練習。而某些超級技能，卻可以給你帶來不同等級的價值。如果一位優秀的律師具備出色的演講能力，那么他給一家律師事務所帶來的價值，將遠遠超過同樣優秀但不具備這種能力的律師。同樣，富蘭克林表示，在任何情況下，以書面方式表達想法的能力都非常有用，因為這些錦繡文章可以讓你變成思想領袖。

有些技能之間的聯系可能并不明顯。富蘭克林表示：“如果你的工作或者工作環境鼓勵創造力，可以去上藝術課——當然不是去學如何畫畫，而是學習如何挖掘自身的創造力，這是培養創造性超級技能的一個例子。”

所以，了解你的行業最重視什么（提示：最有可能的是銷售、領導力和人際關系），然后投資對你有益的輔導或課程。

投資對你所敬佩的人最有價值的事情。如果你有一位商業導師，你可以在她最熱心參與的公益事業中擔任志愿者（并且進行捐助）。這樣你便有更多時間與她相處，進而鞏固彼此的關系——僅僅去找她尋求建議，是無法培養起這種關系的。或者，如果一位你特別看重的職場熟人正在解決一個重要的問題，你可以組織一個小型聚會，集思廣益幫他尋找解決方案。人際關系會帶來許多好處，但與任何其他投資一樣，想要獲取回報，你必須有所投入。

投資聚會。人脈異常寶貴，增強人脈關系，可以提高他們對你的價值。如果你介紹兩個決定一起共事的人互相認識，他們未來都會樂意幫助你。此外，作為主人或發起人，你很有機會成為這個圈子的領袖。富蘭克林說道：“作為領導者，你身后的其他領導者會聯合起來，幫助你獲得勝利。”

所以，開派對吧。或者組織一個策劃小組。召集一群有趣的人在你的家中開派對，出錢給他們購買零食和飲料。如果這筆投入能夠幫你找到一位新客戶，那么它帶來的收益將遠遠超過股市。

投資薄弱環節。富蘭克林認為，首先投資于你最薄弱的環節，永遠是明智的選擇。他建議問這樣一個問題：“什么樣的投資有助于增加我已經進行的其他投資的價值？”

如果你的談判技能已經大有長進，正在建立一個卓越的人脈網絡，但你卻有長期的睡眠障礙，那么你將來就沒有足夠的精力去摘取勝利果實。所以不妨買一臺睡眠跟蹤器，白噪聲播放器，或者對臥室進行隔音處理，隔絕鄰家寵物狗的叫聲。一身好的行頭，可以讓人們更加嚴肅地對待你的想法，所以聘請一位造型師幫你看起來更聰明。或者，如果你所在領域的精英都會雙語交流，而你卻不會，解決辦法就是聘用一位外語家庭教師。

以金錢換取時間和專注。富蘭克林表示：“不受干擾的專注，是最強大的資源之一。”他補充道，如果你能保持精力集中，“你的工作效率將大幅提升。”如果每周將兒童托管的時間額外延長一到兩個小時，可以幫助你在工作時更加放松，這也是一筆不錯的投資。將家務事外包也是如此，因為這些雜事是消極情緒的主要來源。

投資良好的健康也可以增加活力，因此做做按摩或享用健康的飲食，都是不錯的選擇。但富蘭克林表示，要注意：“如果你沒有跑步的決心，買一雙跑鞋沒什么用。”

是的，如果你打算讓生活發生一些改變，1000美元的確可以帶來巨大的幫助。（財富中文網）

譯者: 劉進龍/汪皓

審校：任文科

If you were lucky enough to get a bonus at the end of 2015, or if you’ve got a tax refund coming, you may be hunting around for the right place to put your cash. Fortune’s got plenty of tips on where to invest in 2016, but why not throw yourself into the mix?

Committing to investing at least $1000 in yourself, your earning potential, and your happiness has several upsides. First, there’s diversification. “It’s always safer to have something under your control,” says Bryan Franklin, co-author with Michael Ellsberg of the new book, The Last Safe Investment: Spending Now to Increase Your True Wealth Forever. You can’t do much to alter the performance of an emerging market ETF, but you can have a lot of impact on whether you score a raise.

Second, the returns can be vast. “If you invest in yourself and in your value to other people and your community and your tribe, you can actually change your possibility or position in life,” says Franklin.

Here are some investment approaches with the biggest potential returns.

Invest in developing super-skills. Everyday job skills are great, but you get plenty of practice at those already. Certain super-skills, on the other hand, launch you into a different level of value. A great lawyer who can speak well in public offers disproportionately more value to a firm than an equally great lawyer who can’t. Likewise, being able to convey ideas in writing is useful in any context, Franklin says, as published articles turn you into a thought leader.

The connection doesn’t have to be obvious. “If you’re in a job or work environment where creativity is rewarded, taking an art class—not to learn how to paint but to learn how to access your own creativity—would be an example of a creative super-skill,” says Franklin.

So see what’s most valued in your industry (hint: sales, leadership, and connecting are high in most) and invest in coaching or courses to help.

Invest in what’s valuable to people you admire. If you’ve got a business mentor, volunteer with (and donate to) the non-profit she cares most passionately about. You’ll spend time with her and cement the relationship in a way that’s not just about you pestering her for advice. Or if a valued professional acquaintance is grappling with an important issue, organize a small retreat to brainstorm solutions. Relationships pay off in many ways, but like any other investment, you have to put in capital to get returns.

Invest in gathering people together. Networks are valuable, and tightening these ties raises their value to you. When you introduce two people who decide to work together, they both want to help you in the future. Also, being a host or convener can help you be seen as a leader in your community. “Other leaders align behind leaders to help them win,” Franklin says.

So throw parties. Or organize a mastermind group. If buying snacks and drinks for a group of interesting people you convene at your home leads to you landing a new client, that would massively trump the yield on the S&P.

Invest in shoring up weak spots. It’s always wise to focus first on investing in areas where you’re weakest, Franklin says. He suggests asking, “Which investment is going to enhance the value of all the other investments I’m already making?”

If you’ve polished your negotiating skills, and you’re building a great network, but you’re chronically sleep deprived, you’ll have limited energy for seizing on victories. So buy the sleep tracker, the white noise machine, or soundproof your bedroom to block out your neighbor’s dog. A great wardrobe could make people take your great ideas more seriously, so hire a stylist to help you look smart. Or if the fastest rising people in your field are all bilingual and you’re not, a language tutor is the way to go.

Invest in buying time and focus. “One of the most powerful resources we have is our free attention,” says Franklin. When you can focus, he adds, “the quality of what you can bring to the things you do goes way up.” If an extra hour or two of childcare per week would help you feel more relaxed at work, that would be a good investment. So would outsourcing household chores or errands that have become major sources of negativity.

Investing in good health can likewise increase your energy, which makes massages or healthy meals good options too. Just be careful: “It does no good to buy a pair of running shoes without the accompanying commitment to running,” Franklin says.

But, if you commit to making changes in your life, $1,000 can go a long way.