Keep on Growing!

I have always been an advocate (and participant) in professional development. One of the questions I hear frequently from my clients and colleagues is ‘how do you manage to get things like that (professional development) into your busy calendar? Continuous learning, for me, is not optional – it’s mandatory. My intention is to keep learning and become the very best at my craft. As a professional, you’ve got to keep on growing. Things change quickly these days – you’ve got to stay on top of what’s happening in the world of business. Mediocrity sucks! Here are a few things I do to keep professional development as a priority in my calendar. 1) PLAN MY YEAR. I meet with my business coach to create a plan for my business for the year. This is a no-brainer for me. I create the plan and work the plan. That plan always includes professional development for me – and it must relate to my business of coaching and/or speaking. That’s the first step. 2) IDENTIFY THE TRAINING PROGRAMS. Once we have created the business plan for the year, I then identify training programs that will position me to up-level in the business. I am fortunate in that my own coach offers this type of professional development and so it’s easy then to schedule it right into my calendar. I also plan on attending 2 other professional development sessions throughout the year – this year, they are based on Christian Leadership events in May and August. I know what I am attending – I put it into my calendar right away – and then I’m good to go. Everything else in my business gets scheduled around that. Period. 3) SET SPECIFIC GOALS FOR GROWTH/MASTERY. Once the business plan is finalized, I am quite clear on the competency gaps that will take me to the next level in business. I set specific goals – personal, professional and organizational – and stay very clear and focused on the ‘why’ of each professional development event/opportunity. 4) IMPLEMENT THE LEARNING. One of my favorite expressions is ‘she who implements, wins!” And it’s true. One of the reasons I have been so successful is that I create ‘action plans’ following any training sessio I have attended. I am clear on my personal, professional and organizational goals – I write down the action steps I will take – and I transfer them right into my calendar. Good intentions will get you nowhere! I typically will have 3 action steps for each category – and once they have been implemented, I will go back to my session notes and pull out 3 more action steps to be implemented. I ensure that the training and notes do NOT become ‘shelf help’. 5) READING TO SUPPORT MY GOALS. There is a TON of great content and information available these days. Once my business plan is created, my professional development goals have been identified and I attend various training sessions – the only material I read then is in support of those goals. Bottom line, for instance, is that I only subscribe to 3 ezines that provide content to support those goals. I unsubscribe to everything else. It will always be available – but I make sure that I do not have ‘clutter’ in my in-box or in my brain once I am focused on learning, and mastering, a new business skill. This has served me well. F.O.C.U.S. 6) CELEBRATION. I work hard. I learn lots. I implement constantly and quickly. And then I reward myself. It’s all part of the process. Then I ‘rinse and repeat’ the cycle. It’s important, in my opinion, to reward myself. Keeps me interested – makes it fun – and it’s a bit of a distraction from the constant state of learning and working. I read a great quote once that said ‘Make dust – don’t rust!” As an entrepreneur in this fast-paced world, it’s important to stay relevant – to stay current – to be innovative and creative in order to attract ideal clients and make money. You’ve got to keep on growing to keep on going.