Have you ever invested your hard-earned money in an online course or coaching program with the hopes that it would help you achieve your goals, but it didn’t happen?
I see many people do that.
And if this has happened to you, you know what I mean. And with that, have you then tried to reflect on what you could have done differently next time?
Why am I challenging you on this? Because I see too many entrepreneurs invest money in many different self-development tools, not getting the results they were hoping for. Then they blame the course, coach, or other circumstances on the situation and with that very often give up their self-development journeys altogether.
And that’s the outcome you definitely want to avoid.
So here is some advice on how to invest in self-development and apply the learnings to get your money back.
Be strategic about choosing what skills you want to grow.
First, you want to know what your goals are for the next 3-6-12 months. What results do you actually want to achieve? Second, list the skills that you’ll need to get these results. Third, group them in the “I’m good at this” and “I need to grow here” buckets.
You want to avoid investing in programs that you don’t need right now because you aren’t ready. Trying to skip stages of your business development and learn something that you might be able to implement 3 years from now is a waste of money. Such material will quickly overwhelm you, and you’ll give up before even finishing the program.
The skills from the “I need to grow here” bucket are the skills you’ll want to acquire first. Prioritize them. Pick the one or two critical for your success: maybe sales, marketing strategy, or time management?
Chose the type of coaching that you learn best from
Once you pick, invest in the learning modality not solely based on price but on the type you respond to best to. You want something that will motivate you to stay consistent and apply the learnings.
So what that you can save a couple of hundred $ on an online course as opposed to group coaching if you know you’re not going to implement anything from it? If you won’t get motivated enough to do the work this way, then it’s better not to do anything and at least save a few bucks from a course you’ll take nothing away from.
Have an open mind and commit
These two points are CRUCIAL to getting results and being successful on your self-development journey. Our thoughts about anything drive our feelings, and our feelings drive our actions, which creates our results.
So if you invest in something but let your mind create all the reasons why this is not going to work for you, you’ve already manifested the undesired outcome.
The key here is to have an open mind when you’re starting to learn. An open mind about the content of the program and the results you’re going to achieve. As Jim Kwick said in his book “Limitless,” we can indeed be limitless, achieving anything we dream about as long as we start with an open mindset.
The second part is the commitment. A decision that you chose to invest because you know the program will work for you, and you’ll do what it takes to get the results. It means that you’ll learn, do the work, adjust as needed, and stay consistent with it. There is this misconception about knowledge. People say “knowledge is power.” And yes, it is if you ACT on it. Knowledge without action just sits in your brain, collecting dust and slowly being forgotten.
Do the work
As mentioned above: knowledge without action doesn’t serve you in any way. Action is the key. If you’re investing in a self-development program thinking that only listening to what the coach has to say will give you the results you want or that there is some magic easy button that’ll create a 100-mile shortcut, don’t waste your money.
In my experience, my clients who get the best results are those who take 100% responsibility for their part of the relationship, do the work, ask questions as they go, and don’t give up on the first sign of a challenge. No one can do it for you, but you. Self-development will speed up the journey if you’re ready to drive your car through the bumpy road.
Adjust the timeframe to your circumstances
Be realistic about the timeframe it will take you to learn and apply everything the coaching program offers. Many programs have A LOT of great material crammed into them. You might hope to go through a 6-week program in no time, but when each week has over 5 hours of learning, you might find it hard to learn and do everything in that timeframe.
Keep in mind that everyone’s situation is different. So don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself. Maybe, apart from your business, you have a job and kids or parents that need your attention and creating all the time necessary, it’s just unrealistic. If the weekly material is too much for you, don’t stress out. Make sure you always have access to it and that you can go through it at your own pace. If you have invested in one-on-one coaching, ask the coach to adapt the amount of homework given to what you can do.
Adjust the timeframe to fit your current situation and be cool with it. You’re not competing with others here. You’re building your business on your own terms. As long as you learn and do the work, you’ll get the desired results.
Treat self-development as a never-ending journey.
To keep growing your business, you need to keep developing yourself. Let’s face it. Taking one quick online course on sales won’t make you a Zig Ziglar, but it will set you on a path to get there if you keep growing. You can do many ways: books, podcasts, online courses, one-on-one coaching, or mentorships. Combinations of these are great too!
The key is to never stop and always be strategic about the skills you invest in.
So tell me, what skill do you need to grow right now to get your business to the next level? Online marketing, sales, time management or you’re not even sure where to start. If you’re ready to invest in any of these or need some clarity on what you actually need to achieve your goals, then schedule a free discovery call here with me. I’ll be happy to help.
