Have you ever asked yourself this question?
You’ve done so many courses, yet you are no further along!!
What gives? In this 11 minute episode, I want to help you dig deep and see what’s holding you back!
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The Lowdown…
“I’m doing so many courses, I’m attending so many webinars, and yet I’m still no further along. Why not?”
I want to address this is because I believe there are three big reasons why the courses, webinars and trainings could be seriously detrimental to you in your business.
When you have limited time (tiny time), you need to be extremely laser-focused and very specific and know exactly what you do with your time so that you can get the most out of it.
When you only have a few hours a day, you need to be disciplined with yourself, with the way you spend your time, what you’re doing, who you’re doing them with, and to make sure that you get the biggest bang for your buck.
You often hear people saying, “You need to invest in yourself. You need to invest in your learning.”
You wouldn’t just turn up one day and say, “I’m going to be an electrician,” and just start being an electrician.
You need training and you need knowledge and experience to be able to do all those things. Same if you suddenly became a baker, and then you thought, “Okay, yeah. I’m just going to bake cakes now.”
There’s a learning curve.
It’s the same with business. There is a learning curve so you do need to invest time and energy into doing the trainings, the webinars, the programs.
None of these things are bad and they’re not a waste of time, BUT you have to make some very key distinctions about where they fit in for you and your business, especially, when you have tiny time.
I was motivated to create this post because when I’m doing sales calls, for example, I often hear people saying, “I’ve done an online course creation program. I’ve done Facebook ads course. I’ve done list building course. I’ve done da da da da …” They’re listing them off, and wondering why they’re not building any momentum.
Let me address some of these, because sometimes you think you’re doing the right thing, and actually, it’s a distraction and it’s a derailer.
First of all, I would ask yourself this question.
1) Is the learning a handy form of distraction for me?
I’m not being smart here but are you using it as a distraction, so that you can avoid doing the calls or you can avoid doing the work that gets you the results?
That might be making sales calls. It might be making contact with people. It might be going to that networking meeting.
Instead, you’re telling yourself, “I’m investing in myself. I’m developing myself. Look at me. I’ve attended so many webinars. I’ve finished this course.”
The problem is you’re not doing it for the right reasons.
You’re using it more as a distraction. I do hear this, where people say, “I’m just going to finish this course, and then I’ll be ready to go and do X, Y, and Z.“
Why can’t you do both? Why can’t you spend half an hour to do a piece of training and still do the work that gets you the business? Because training alone will not get you the business.
You need to take action as well.
That’s one of the key reasons why I create training in bite-sized pieces so that somebody can say, “Okay. That’s only 15-minute. I can fit that in, and then I can go and do this,” instead of having it be an hour long, and then that takes up an hour.
You might not necessarily need the full hour’s worth of content, either.
If it distracts you from doing the work that you’re feeling a resistance to doing, like networking, connecting with people or doing sales calls.
That’s a warning sign.
You need to do both.
2) Are you putting the cart before the horse?
I do not believe in investing in, Facebook advertising courses unless you have something you’re ready to sell.
Otherwise, you’re just going to be lining Zuckerberg’s pockets, and you’re not going to be creating a return for yourself.
What is the end result? What do you want someone to do when they land on your blog post or when they take your free opt in gift? Do you have a journey for them so that they might buy something that’s a low cost to them? Do they book in for a consultation with you?
If these things are not clear and defined before you do the Facebook advertising, you’re just throwing money down the drain.
It’s no use to you.
And when it doesn’t work, you’ll tell yourself, “Facebook advertising is rubbish. It doesn’t work for me,” and you’ll have a huge amount of resistance to ever doing those again.
Actually, they could be really lucrative for you, but because you didn’t get all the pieces right first, it’s now a no-go area!
3. Are you getting overwhelmed?
You need to be learning and you need to be implementing as well so that you’re learning and earning.
But when you’re constantly learning, you’re probably thinking, “Oh, my God. I’ve got so much information in my head right now that I can’t think straight. I don’t know where to start. I don’t know what to do.”
I’ve thought that too.
This is when you have to step away from the learning and implement.
Even if you only do one piece of the course, and you actually go and implement that, that’s far better than consuming the whole course and never doing anything with it.
This is a real litmus test because if you’re going to do some of my training, whether it’s free or paid, I want you to implement, because that’s how you get results, and that’s how you’ll know the stuff works.
Implementation is crucial.
How do you rectify this?
This is not one of those passive posts. I want you to take action.
So take 15 minutes now to map out your goals and priorities for the next six to 12 months.
What you’re going to do is outline 3-5 goals and priorities (no more than 5 because you can’t do everything).
Map out 3-5 goals and priorities are over the next 6-12 months.
Not three years. Not five years.
6-12 months
Look at the plan and consider this question:
Do I have the knowledge and resources to be able to deliver on this?
If you don’t, if there’s a gap, that’s what you need to fill.
That’s what you focus on.
When somebody comes up and says, “I’ve got a list building course,” and you think, “Actually, that looks really good and that fits perfectly in the gap that I have,” that’s a sound investment.
If somebody comes along offering you help to write and publish a book but this is nowhere on your list of priorities, you can safely ignore that.
You don’t have to have the fear that you’re going to miss out (FOMO).
You can put that to one side and you say, “That’s not in my priority list.“
Somebody then pops up and says, “I’ve got a fantastic course that’s going to be around your selling skills,” and you think, “Yeah, that’s a big gap for me. I can see that I really need to close this gap in order to help me achieve my big goals,” then that is a sound investment.
It’s the right fit.
The price is right, and it all looks good, and you’re happy. That’s a sound investment to make.
This is the approach that I want you to take.
It’s just in time learning not just in case!
Not, “Oh, I might use that information,” or, “I might decide to publish a book,” or, “I might decide to start a podcast.”
No, no, no!
Look at your priority list for the next 6-12 months, and identify where the gaps are.
Then you go out and fill those gaps.
They’re sound investments.
You can ignore everything else.
Isn’t that a great sense of relief?
Investing in yourself and developing your skills and your techniques and your strategies is crucially important. Absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt. I’ve been a trainer and a coach for 17+ years, so this is a topic very, very close to my heart.
But you’ve have to make sure it’s the right training and development for you and for your business.
Is it going to move you along? If it’s not, put it to one side.
Don’t be afraid that you’re going to miss out, because trust me, these things come around.
When it’s the right time, it will be the right time. You will not miss out!
I hope that’s been useful to you. Let me know in the comments your thoughts and any key take aways from what I shared today. I’d love to hear from you!
If you’re struggling with this, then don’t forget to book your Strategy Session with me. It’s a free 30-minute call. We can get down to exactly what you need to focus on for the next 6-12 months.
If you’ve done loads and loads of courses, and you’re still no further along, come on a Strategy Session. I know you I can help you pinpoint exactly what you need to work on right now so that you can move forward and build that momentum.
Use this link to book your call and I look forward to talking to you soon.
Love and hugs,
Yasmin xxx