“Many years ago a friend suggested that for people trying to have a big impact, there might be no more cost-effective self-improvement investment than enrolling in Toastmasters and buying a gym membership. If I were more rational I’d take this advice, and in general the effective altruism community might invest too little in superficial improvements, such as appearance and charisma.”
+1 to gym memberships having an excellent ROI, self-improvement-wise. (Though it’s important to find a type of workout that’s intrinsically motivating, otherwise you run into motivation issues that damage the ROI.)
Cross-reference this 80,000 Hours article of advice for people starting their career, especially #4, #8, and #14: https://80000hours.org/2019/04/career-advice-i-wish-id-been-given-when-i-was-young/
“Many years ago a friend suggested that for people trying to have a big impact, there might be no more cost-effective self-improvement investment than enrolling in Toastmasters and buying a gym membership. If I were more rational I’d take this advice, and in general the effective altruism community might invest too little in superficial improvements, such as appearance and charisma.”
+1 to gym memberships having an excellent ROI, self-improvement-wise. (Though it’s important to find a type of workout that’s intrinsically motivating, otherwise you run into motivation issues that damage the ROI.)