Investments take on many forms in our lives. From a commitment to better health to a new outlook on personal finance, investments in the future can start to pay dividends right away. Choosing the places that will make the most impact can feel tricky sometimes, but starting small and working your way into a new routine or lifestyle habit is usually the best way to make meaningful changes that will improve your overall quality of life.

1. Invest in your education.

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Education is the best thing you can focus on when trying to improve your life. Millions of Americans seek out new certification courses or specialty degrees online to supplement the years of experience gained in prior academia. There has never been a better time to go back to school than now, with Covid-19 testing and lockdown measures preventing routine life habits from going ahead.

Now, while people all across the U.S. are working from home or pulling double duty—as American nurses are—in primary care clinics and hospitals across the country, this is the perfect time to supplement your specialty with a new credential or degree program that suits your special interests and area of expertise. Investments in education, like an FNP-BC program to bolster your nurse practitioner certification, often result in faster pay raises, new job opportunities, and increasing access to new and exciting technological advancements within the field itself.

2. Invest in your health.

Taking the time to get active is a great way to improve your mood and general wellbeing. Running each day, even if you can only get moving for ten minutes at a time, will begin to rapidly improve your outlook on life itself and help you clear your head during this stressful time. Running, in particular, has been proven as a powerful stress reliever, and coupled with a few dietary changes to healthier meals, you can expect to see a new you in no time. As with education, there’s no time like the present, so get cracking on the lifestyle upgrades that will make you feel fantastic.

3. Invest in your bank account.

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Investing is often thought of as a fiscal goal. While it truly extends beyond the financial world of banking and saving, investments that will line your pockets with a little extra wiggle room are a great addition as well. Getting smart about your money begins with a commitment to learning and growing as a frugal spender.

Frequenting information sites like WealthRocket is a great place to begin when learning how to be a better saver. These lessons extend from tackling high-interest credit card debt and high monthly utility bills to choosing stocks and commodities for your portfolio in order to maximize return on investment year over year. It doesn’t take years of experience with good monetary decision making in order to increase your financial health. Just a new level of competency with the information available to you is all it takes to promote financial freedom for the long term.

4. Invest in your home.

Professional goals aside, your home is your place of refuge at the end of a stressful day. With more and more workers telecommuting from the comfort of their kitchen, this space has taken on a greater significance than anyone could have ever guessed. Making improvements to your home or redecorating the interior space in order to create a more comfortable working and living environment is a great way to make you feel happier and healthier for the weeks and months ahead. Projected into the long term, upgrades to the home can make for a higher value property that will net you greater returns when you decide it’s time to move on.

Improving your life is a matter of finding and investing in the right things—action items that will make you happier and give you greater peace of mind.