When I first started gaining momentum in the entertainment industry I was hesitant about bringing a manager on board. I was confident that I could handle everything that was being thrown my way and I didn’t need to pay someone. It wasn’t until my inbox became flooded with thousands of unread emails and I began missing booking opportunities that I decided it was time to hire a manager. Over the years my career has grown at a rapid pace and I am constantly adding people to my team. With every new hire, whether it’s a lawyer, assistant, or editor, I am hesitant because, well, no one works for free. I didn’t want to keep adding to the list of people I would have to pay. My outgoing payments were starting to add up, and as a business owner (and person of Indian descent), I found myself really concerned. Over time, though, I noticed that the more money I spent, the more money I made. Investing in a team has allowed me to produce more content, make more brand deals, and create more revenue streams. Additionally, investing in a team has given me more time and more opportunities and has generally helped my business to grow. The best example of money well invested is my PR team (probably one of my biggest expenses each month). I was hesitant to spend the money on PR because I thought, “I am my own PR company. I have 10 million subscribers.” But again, you’re never too good to get better. Since hiring my publicists, I’ve gotten on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and have been featured in countless magazines. None of this happened overnight, and I did not make back the money I invested immediately, but the long-term results were worth the money and the wait.
Another way to invest money in yourself is by supporting your own projects. This book is a great example of that. When the conversation started about how to announce this book to my audience, I wanted the idea to be epic. I didn’t want to simply tell my audience at the end of one of my videos that I was writing a book, nor did I want to post an Instagram pic with the big news. I wanted to do something above and beyond, and as with most things, above and beyond meant spending money.
As part of my publishing deal, there was no budget for any type of special announcement, and so whatever I decided to do would have to come out of my own pocket. I knew my goal was to create a very special announcement and get the word out, so I invested a decent amount of money into creating a visually stunning short film promoting my book. It was expensive and physically and mentally taxing, but time, energy, and money were the investments required to make it happen. A few weeks later I announced my book on The Tonight Show (hello, return-on-investment PR team), and the next day I uploaded my above-and-beyond announcement video. As I write this, I haven’t reaped any direct benefits from this investment. I will likely never make back from Ad Sense revenue (the ads playing on the video) what I spent on that video, and that’s okay. I made the video to help establish myself as an author, by getting more eyes on my book, and I’m hoping to reap the benefits in the long run.
You are revolutionary. You have amazing ideas. You have the ability to create, to change, to solve, and to influence. Don’t sell yourself short by not spending your time, energy, and money on creating the best version of yourself. Instead of buying the new iPhone, which will be slightly bigger, slightly faster, slightly more waterproof, and ten times more expensive, use that money and bet on yourself. Instead of scrolling mindlessly through Facebook and checking in on what everyone else is doing, use that time to check in on what’s happening in your life.
I would tell you to also spend your energy on yourself, but your body uses ATP and carbohydrates to create energy that is used for everything you do, so reading this very book is causing you to expend your energy. HA! Got ya, suckaaaaaaa.
No, but for real, invest in yourself.
Make an Investment
Outline one investment in each currency that will help you reach your goals.
EARLY ON, WE LEARN that it pays to follow the rules. When I was in elementary school, I got good grades for coloring inside the lines in art class and praise for running basketball drills within the pylons in gym class. Even as an adult I’m expected to drive my car inside a narrow lane on a narrow road while stuck in traffic, surrounded by open land. After going through security at an airport there is a yellow line I can’t cross until the customs officer says so. Once I noticed an officer was free and so I stepped ahead on my own. He stopped me, sent me back to the line, waited all of two seconds, and then called me forward. Ah, good old protocol.
In my opinion, some protocol is necessary for the world to function efficiently. Rules and systems need to be in place so that people don’t run completely wild. Imagine a world without laws, single-file lines, or etiquette. Sounds like the buffet line at an Indian wedding reception—just thinking about that stresses me out. So what I’ll say is this: rules are important MOST of the time. But there are other times when you should eff protocol. Think about it. If everyone followed protocol all the time, no one would ever do something for the first time. Nothing would change. No one would stand out—or stand up to injustice.
Take Malala Yousafzai, for example. Malala grew up in Pakistan, where women are denied the right to a high school education. That’s the rule. But at a very young age, Malala took a stand, and she’s been fighting for female education ever since, despite daily threats to her life. By challenging the system, Malala changed not only her own life but the lives of countless young girls who have been forced to end their education before ever reaching high school. In 2014, Malala was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She was seventeen years old.
I’m inspired by Malala’s courage every day. I think there are so many lessons to be learned from her story. And while there’s no way I can compare any example from my life to the brave actions of a hero like Malala, I recognize that on the most basic level, she broke the rules, and there’s so much value in that. Giving protocol a big middle finger (well, average-sized, in my case—I’m not Godzilla) has proven fruitful in my life more than once. Here’s just one example.
As you may know, The Rock is my hero. Always has been. When I was in fourth grade, I jumped for joy when I found out Dwayne Johnson would be doing a signing in my city. On the day of, as soon as the bell rang after school I ran to my uncle’s car and we raced to the mall where the event was being held. Once we parked, I speed-walked to the door daydreaming about all the great conversation I was about to have with The Rock. Maybe he would take a liking to me and adopt me! My parents would understand. I mean, it’s The Rock! If he wants a child, he should get a child.
I saw a huge line of people and I knew I was headed in the right direction. I glanced at the front of the line in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the star wrestler—and I did. Except it wasn’t The Rock, it was Mankind (another wrestler, not all of humanity). What. Was. Happening?! In extreme panic I asked a security guard where The Rock was, and he said that at the last minute WWF (This was before it was the WWE #AlwaysRemember) had sent Mankind instead of my future father. I was crushed.