Over the past few decades, many Americans have held countless amounts of money in the stock market in their personal investment accounts or 401k’s. If we are to learn from history, the typical American should probably think long and hard before investing their hard-earned money in a black hole controlled by people who have a diminishing trust reputation.

Oil, commodities, and other types of trading are even bigger mysteries than the stock market. In my opinion, there is another great option. Invest in yourself!

This is what I mean by that. Start a business or go to school to learn a trade that will earn you more money and do more good in the world.

My experience is with start-up companies. I started Semantic Valley because I didn’t like working for others because I felt like I wasn’t learning enough.

After starting a number of companies under the Semantic Valley umbrella, I grew as a person (priceless) and learned a number of skills I would never have learned before. I now have 60-100% experience in almost every skill and department a company could have or need. Now I just spit startups left and right, and they all generate revenue.

It was a risk I took and it was an investment in myself. Now I am much more employable if I want that, and I can innovate on my own. But most importantly, I grew and matured as a person and followed my own vision that I was able to refine (and learn to refine optimally). That has been the best investment of my life and I encourage others to follow the same path.