Episode 023 – Get the most out of courses

Buying courses has become a hobby for many small business owners! You often hear the term course junkie for those that seem to buy everything! Have you noticed though how many people are not implementing what they buy, and there are a number of reasons for that!

Not considering if you need it

Courses are great, they are there to speed up the learning process and get you further along than where you are right now. But have you ever bought a course because it looked all shiny and fantastic, but you didn’t really need it? We all have, lets be honest! When you are parting with your hard-earned cash why do we let our emotions sweep us away with FOMO and shiny marketing! Because we are human, so please don’t beat yourself up, its just nice to realise that we can do irrational things! On a more serious note, when considering buying any course to help move you and your business forward, consider what the exact outcome of the course is, and if you seriously need that course right now.

This is when you refer to your plan to understand what milestones you have hit and where you need to grow to reach your next ones. What skills is this course going to teach me that I need to progress to the next level!

How do you learn best?

Do you understand how you learn best? What style is most successful for you, are you a visual learner where you need to see the concepts laid out, printing out all the course material prior to starting the course and bounding it in a folder. Or are you an auditory learner, where listening to the information a couple of times helps to cement the concepts in your brain. Understanding which you are will help you dramatically get the most out of the materials as they are supplied. Also, the time of the day can make a big impact. Are you a morning person, or do you work better at night, this is also a consideration that you need to consider!

Devoting the time to make it happen

When you are in business, time is our greatest challenge, with so many things to attend to and do, where on earth do you find the time to dedicate to learning a new skill. You need to create a schedule of learning for yourself where you are creating blocks of time. Once you are enrolled in the course you normally receive all the information and schedule of online calls and meetings. Plot across your calendar all the times that you need to be present to listen and partake in the course. Then also pop into your calendar the times that you need to complete each action step. These times are not negotiable, you have purchased the course coordinators time and expertise, so use it. 

Sometimes you just need to trust your own abilities

Growing and developing is a necessity to succeed, but often we don’t even realise just how far we have come. As a functioning adult we don’t take into consideration the skills that we already have achieved in our live that we bring to our own small business. Often there are skills that we possess that are transferable into many areas of your business. Take the time and conduct a skills audit on yourself. Start by writing a list of all the known skills that you have; it will be easy to identify these! Then sit and think about all the skills that you use daily, are you great at budgeting, time management, organising people, there are lots of skills that you possess that you wouldn’t really think about. Then you can consider the skills that you are lacking, and where you feel you need to improve to help you on your small business journey. This should form the basis of decision making when considering which courses to buy and which ones to leave behind.

Community

Often, we don’t buy courses for the skills that we learn we buy for the community that is attached to it. Small business is lonely we all know that, and so when we get into a great community, we can create some amazing friendships. It helps you also to learn from the thoughts and discussions of others, we also realise that our problems are not isolated and that many people feel the same. Understanding that you need to come to the course with an open mind and be willing to ask questions of the group and the facilitator is key to getting the answers that are right for you! Many people learn in different ways, and sometimes all it takes is someone different to explain the solution in a different way and bam, lifelong learning right there!

Accountability

When starting a course, we all have the best of intentions, but a key to success is around accountability. When you have booked the course, and allocated the time into your calendar, make sure that you are letting family and friends know that you are completing a course. This will help them to understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. In a sneaky way its also holding you accountable to complete the course because you know there is always someone that will ask you how it was and what you learnt out of it. You never want to be that person that starts lots of projects and never finishes them!

Finishing your tasks

This is another great point, completing what you start will see you grow and learn. Its not just around the course that you are completing but everything that you do in life. Seeing projects, and activities through to their completion is exercising that muscle in your brain to finish things. Life is busy, complex and generally rushed, so being able to stay focused and concentrate on completing your tasks is another great life skill. 

You need to implement what you are taught

Argh, my biggest pet hate, you spend all the money and never implement what you have learnt. As you are going through whatever course you have purchased, you need to be implementing as you are going! You will always learn so much more if you are in the trenches implementing into your business what you are learning. At least that way, if you have issues or questions you can ask for assistance from the facilitator and get the right answers to your problems. I understand the concept of going through the course and just learning the concepts, but again life is busy, and there are so many distractions. Get busy implementing and creating at the same time, if you need to revisit concepts then make sure you are allocating time to do it after. Always remember done is better than perfect, advice I was given when I started University, and its so relevant.

Final Thoughts

As I wrap up another episode, I wanted to touch on the important points. Create a schedule for yourself, I can’t stress this enough, it will make all the difference. Talk to those around you to help keep you accountable. Create a skills self-audit for yourself, you would be so surprised as to how much you actually know! I have created a list of skills and a template to help you complete this! My final thoughts are around implementation, please do yourself a favour and just get implementing. 

Downloads and additional help.

I have created a FREE download to help you complete your Skills Self Audit, check it out and reach out if you need any help! Please as always share your ideas in the group or ask for help! If you are not part of Plan to Profit community then please check out the link below and join our brand-new community!

Meet Your Host

Carol Lange 

From a young age I have been surrounded by business success. Having formally studied a Double Degree of Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Management, this led to many successful opportunities.

I have been an employee for large accounting firms and international companies. I have run two highly successful businesses, becoming sought after in my industry internationally.

I have spoken nationally on the topic of money management and loved having the quiet coffee making radical changes for my clients. I am not a limelight chaser, just a quiet achiever looking to make a difference in the world.

Thankyou for joining me on the podcast, my dream is to inspire you to take action that will create a difference in your life! Dream no more and live the life that you have always wanted.