When Warren Buffett is asked for investment advice, his answer often looks like this:

“The best investment by far is anything that develops yourself, and it’s not taxed at all…Whatever abilities you have can’t be taken away from you. They can’t actually be inflated away from you.”

– Warren Buffett

While the new year is rolling around, I have been contemplating the importance of investing in myself.

I have goals to meet that require a good amount of financial discipline to come to light, so I hold on to my money tightly. With that in mind, it can often seem counterintuitive to spend. Even on “good” things.

My internal dialogue looks like this:

“That course I have been looking at, costing around $2,000, would be an awesome experience. But that $2,000 is also $2,000 that I will have lost towards my main goal.”

I see it, somehow, slightly irresponsible to spend the money I worked so hard to save.

While I am so young, I have been taking a moment to challenge my internal belief system around this topic. What is the correct balance of spending in my life, and where do I adjust my inclination to risk?

Ultimately, deep down I may not believe that I can realize my goals, causing me to hold so tightly to the work I have previously done.

But in the words of Warren Buffett:

“Generally speaking, investing in yourself is the best thing you can do. Anything that improves your own talents. Nobody can take it away from you. They can run up huge deficits, the dollar can become worth far less, you can have all kinds of things happen. But if you’ve got talent yourself, and you maximize your talent, you’ve got a terrific asset.”

– Warren Buffett

I say take the course.