Education is the main thing people mean by this, I think, but I think investing in your health and appearance are crucial too.

For example, if you have bad teeth, paying to get braces and perhaps whitening will improve both your confidence and how people at work perceive you. If you have bad skin, paying for skincare treatments or Accutane (it’s awful, but it works!) will have the same effect. Even if you are a very kind and enlightened person who never judges other people at work based on their physical appearance, some folks do judge based on that and feel little shame about it.

Personally I paid for LASIK because I hated wearing glasses and thought I looked like a stupid fucking goober wearing them. The LASIK didn’t work out for me, but it does for most people.