I’ve spent a lot of time and energy to find the right balance of donating and volunteering. One year I gave a lot of money; another, I gave a lot of time to various things. I never felt like I was making a worthwhile difference, for myself or anyone else.

This year I signed up for a weekly volunteer gig at my local library. For some reason in the past I thought the library wasn’t ‘enough;’ it didn’t feed the hungry or save lives or anything. But it’s wonderful. I spend 2hrs/week surrounded by books and booky people, taking some of the load off the underpaid staff. They love it, I love it, and I’m really coming to appreciate what the library provides for the community. It’s perfect.
Does it improve the world? does it make me a better person? I don’t know. But I’m going to keep doing it anyway.

When I was learning the ukulele, I bought a decent inexpensive uke to practice on and told myself I’m not to buy a nice one until I’ve practiced till I develop calluses and my fingers bled. Taught myself from drills I found on the web, youtube videos. Taking a class once a week (1hr) isn’t going to cut it. I practice everyday as if I had an asian tiger mom. Cost: Free

I started teaching myself Spanish, but reached a point in the curve where I could not improve much without interaction. Paid for classes at Cervantes Institute. Cost: ~$200/month.
Spanish Online resources: Free
Spanish Podcasts: Free
Spanish Movies and TV series: Free from library

Other online learning from Coursera, Udacity, NPTEL, MITx in various subjects: Free

“personal development” vs. “self improvement”.

Semantics-schemantics? As a side effect of my career I am basically required to be continually learning new technical skills and following trends, especially since I deal with a lot of post-production software which is ALWAYS developing further and further. So look at it from a software perspective: it’s always developing, but is it always ‘improving’? No. One is a process and the other is a quality.

You do not need to spend a shiny penny on self-improvement. Monetizing personal development is one method of attaining access to resources or even self-motivating the development –> one can borrow Spanish books from the library or just exercise on their own floor, but a Spanish course and a gym provide monetary incentive, guidance, community, and tools you otherwise don’t have immediately available.

So in answer to your question I spend from $15 to $150 per month on personal development, depending on what I need to develop. The $15 is a monthly subscription to lynda.com and the rest is if I need to buy more specialized tutorials from other people for specific projects I’m working on.

For self-improvement, I just try to be active and involved with as many communities of people possible, so that I can understand the world better. And it’s worked, as it’s gotten me to far corners of the globe and rad experiences at home and anywhere I’ve gone.

–DiB

Related to an earlier discussion, I like the usual tone of GRS, where readers might say, “I define self-worth differently…” instead of getting into arguments about semantics and who’s right/wrong.

Non snark:
Probably the most common idea is turning a hobby into a bit of a business. E.g. if you create something you can sell it (gardening, cooking, woodworking, etc). Of course you’ll really be only able to do this once you’ve gotten the basics but this can finance your improvement beyond though.

For things that don’t produce tangible goods, it’s a bit harder. If you want to be exercise more, take up a side job that requires manual labor, lawncare, dog walking, etc. Other goals like seeing the world, or learning a new language will likely require a big upheaval in your life if you want to be paid to do that. The basic example is go out and work in a foreign country, see the place and pick up the language.

On the other hand, how annoying are those pretentious people that think they’re the greatest because they can speak many languages, are artists, etc. and love to tell you about it?

No matter what your definition is of ‘self-improvement,’ let’s just try and be a bit more humble about it and thinking our way is the best way.

You aren’t obligated to always spend your last dollars on helping others. Should we all feel obligated to only spend our extra time, money and talents on helping others? I do think it’s a good idea to contribute time, money and efforts on helping others, and I do that myself, but setting aside some time in my schedule to do something I get something out of both educationally and emotionally, allows me to be a healthier person, mentally.

It’s always about balance.

I agree 100%. In a move that would certainly make you proud, I actually stopped paying $55/month for a gym membership to purchase a gently used weight set, weights included, for $300 and treadmill for $100. I’ve already made my money’s worth, and then some!

Don’t pay outrageous gym membership fees if you can get the same workout at home for a fraction of the price!

Tri Coach: $450/mo.
Swim Coach: $150/mo.
Personal Trainer: $200/mo.
Gear: $250/mo.

I also have a line item for tuition because at least one of us is always taking classes at the local universities. $250/mo.

I also include publications like The Economist, WSJ, etc, which aren’t really related to my job, but aren’t quite leisure activities either. $50/mo.

As a matter of context, it takes up less than 5% of income.

The things you described in your post are “hobbies” and “interests.” They are personal accomplishments. When you equate doing any of these things in themselves with becoming a better human being, you’ve lost a lot of people. Is a person who can speak a second language a better person than they were before? No, they’re a more accomplished person. I think most people would say becoming a “better person” involves developing qualities that improve how you treat everyone around you, qualities like loyalty, kindness, generosity, honesty, integrity, and compassion.

I personally spend a fair amount of money on activities that help me develop my abilities. I belong to a gym, take classes in my field and for personal interest, and read lots of books. I love to learn so I’m always trying out something new.

I work on becoming a better person by studying the Bible and really working to apply its timeless counsel on how to act and how to treat others. That’s a different thing entirely.

@Kristen,

You may want to reeducate yourself. The book you speak of is a collection of books. Some of them date back 3500-3600 years. They were cobbled together into the “book” we know now less than 500 years ago.

And who’s to say she is a Christian? There are other religions.

Personally I’m not much for organized religion. I think people tend to screw everything up. I can say that I haven’t read anything out of the book that would turn me into some mindless drone unable to make decisions for myself.

In my line of work however, self-improvement is essential. And, so I do spend money for online courses and tutorials to learn software and other skills I need.

However, it is sometimes difficult to gauge if something is worth the cost because it’s intangible for the most part.

Although I’m at the debt-free stage, I am not at the point yet where I have a lot of room for disposable income. There is so much I would like to explore and do, yet there’s so little in my piggy bank.

I do the 2-day rule for anything above $100. If after 48 hours, I would still like to do the course, then I just go for it. For this year, I spent $150 on a “fake” piano and a “voice-over” workshop, both of which I enjoyed immensely and would like to look into further.

If it’s a self-help book that I want, I borrow it first from the library. Once I get my hands on it and it merits highlighting passages and taking notes, then I buy a used book on Amazon or Half-Price Bookstore.

I would like to get voice lessons but since my budget can’t accommodate it, I volunteer at my church’s praise and worship team on a weekly basis. I may not get in American Idol but I know that the constant singing has improved my range and my ability to listen to subtle changes in notes.

It’s possible to get in shape without a gym, and to improve your self-esteem without a professional, but my success in those areas isn’t as good without the pros, so that’s why it’s worth it to me. I still supplement with free/cheap stuff: trail running, free classes at the community center, checking out items from the library, etc. But in areas that are really important to me, I don’t mind shelling out the cash to get the return I value.

Carry on…

Once I made these changes, I discovered I was more patient and had the energy to be compassionate. I was able to apply the changes I wanted to make in my life, as discussed in therapy. Oh, I’m also off the medication. (I am NOT advising people start taking a spin class five days a week and stop taking psychaitric medication. I weaned off the meds over a period of 18 months, under the guidance of my psychaitrist. I am lucky that the changes I made in my life allowed me to go off the meds but you can be sure that if I still needed them, I would still be taking them.)

This new energy [and extra couple of hours a week from no longer seeing the psychaitrist] allows me to volunteer in the community. I read to kids at the summer lunch program and I volunteer at a food bank. So yes, improving one’s physical health may have a domino affect on other areas of self-improvement or self-development.

In my own experience, the more happy and fulfilled I and other people are, which generally occurs when we do what we love and gain experiences, skills, knowledge, etc., then THAT’s when we’re happiest, most expansive, most generous, most positive about the world and its possibilities, and definitely the most motivated to “do good”.

This might just be a personality thing, or partly related to inherently optimistic versus pessimistic view of humans and their role in the world. I need positive experiences first, to set off the positive cycle.

If I learn to rock climb and find myself pushing beyond limits I knew I had while trying to scale a cliff, that can build confidence when faced with adversity. It may allow me to become willing to push in other, less concrete areas of my life and take on risks or face issues I would have previously avoided.

If I take up a martial art, archery, shooting, pool, poker, etc. where there is a need for concentration and focus, I can provide that concentration, focus, and discipline to other areas of my life and improve those.

If I really learn a foreign language, engage in it and pay attention to it, then I typically learn something about the culture and more importantly another world view. This can help me in creative problem solving issues I may be faced with.

If I participate in community theater or toastmasters, I may ease my fear of being in front of people and be able to take a bigger role in something I’d been avoiding.

So this idea of you can only become a better person by sacrifice is bunk IMHO. You become a better person through your experiences and reactions to those experiences. While none of the above guarantees you’ll become a better person, neither does working in food line, caring for a sick relative, or working at an animal shelter. It’s how and what you take away from the experience and use it in other areas in your life that determines that.