An Investment

I remember going to Land of Oz Simmentals just north of Hutchinson to buy my first cow. At six years old, grandpa had loaned me just enough to buy a bred Sim-gelbvieh heifer that I decided to name Macy, as cattle were pretty much my family’s way of teaching about financial responsibility. My thoughts were swimming with all the activities and adventures I could have with my cow (please remember I was six). My dad, however, was quick to use this as an opportunity to teach me about investing. He made me sit down, figure out where to keep her, where to breed her, and calculate how many calves she’d need to produce to break even, and consider all the different factors that could come into play.

That was my first experience with investing. I think of investing as the act of giving something to produce something. For instance, I paid off my loan for Macy and continued to feed her for several years, and in return she produced calves when bred to grandpa’s bulls. I’ve recently come to consider leadership as an act of investment.

We invest time, resources, effort, and so much more into others so that we can help “produce” personal growth for them. I find that the more we invest in people, the more growth we see. It makes sense, the more time I spend with someone, the more likely I am to have an impact in their life. Our investments could be as simple as a kind word or as profound as being a dedicated mentor. Individuals who exhibit strong principles, care about others, pursue continuous growth, and hope to make a positive impact are individuals that deserve investment.

It’s not difficult to invest in someone. It doesn’t matter how much money we have, where we’re from, or what we look like, all we have to do to invest in others is put in a little time and believe in their success. The core of investing in people is simply caring about them as an individual. That little heifer turned out to be a solid investment for me, but the growth and achievement we can help others reach through our investment is so much more meaningful than any check.

~Jacob