'Tis the Season ... Here's how to get the most out of it!!
I delivered 4 seminars last week at the Woodworking Machinery Supply Expo in Toronto. I also had a booth at their trade show. It was TONS of FUN! This is just one of the many ways in which I execute Strategy #7:
Love what you do. Do what you love.
Following the trade show I was diligent in reconnecting with everyone, as any diligent entrepreneur would be in an effort to serve others.
After all, that's the #1 reason we are in business, right? To serve others.
In fact, one person in one of the seminars responded to that statement with:
Actually, we're in business to make money! ... to which I responded:
If you are only in business to make money, your business will not last long and you will struggle throughout its years. Making money (and HEAPS of it!!) quickly & almost effortlessly is a result of serving others ... in a BIG way.
As I followed up with the hundred+ people with whom I connected at the trade show last week, most of them were able to clearly articulate what the best things were that they got out of the trade show and all of the many seminars.
Unfortunately, fewer than 1% (yes, 1 - without any 0s) of these fine folks had yet to take a step towards implementing those "best" ideas into their businesses.
This takes me back to a newsletter I distributed first in March of 2005 and then again in March of 2008 when the topic became a hot one yet again. So, rather than re-invent the wheel, if you'd like to learn how to receive the biggest ROI (Return On Investment) on your next off-site training or Trade Show then simply click here. How many times have you gone to a conference or some training and learned a ton of valuable stuff that you just knew would be incredibly useful in your business?
Then what happened when you got back to your routine at work and in life? Mind if I give you a bit of a play-by-play replay?
In response to your spouse asking how the conference was, you were really excited and eager to share the excitement you were feeling. You even had a clear vision of how these valuable nuggets were going to enhance your business, decrease your workload, increase your productivity (or whatever the conference was offering). You heard so many wonderful pieces of advice and case studies that were speaking right to you.
On your way to work the next day you still felt the enthusiasm and you planned how you would implement some of the immediate changes and how you would deal with implementing the others over a longer term.
Then you arrived.
You immediately got bombarded with all those messages -- telephone, e-mail and postal mail (ok, not so many of these :) )-- that had piled up while you were away.
The people in charge were quick to come to you with the problems they had encountered during your absence and then you found yourself putting out fires.
The conference material either didn't even make it out of your briefcase or if it did it just got placed on a corner of your desk. You would get to it later. These issues were far more urgent!
Someone at your workplace, that first day back, asks you how the conference was and you fill them in on how exciting it was and how much valuable information you acquired. Now, after a morning like you've just been through, while you're filling this person in, you no longer feel the enthusiasm you did just a few hours ago.
You briefly consider spending some time on the stack of documentation and notes from the conference. "That's ok," you tell yourself. "I'll get to it tomorrow."
In this case, tomorrow does come and you see the stack of documentation on the corner of your desk. "Yes, I'll get to it, but this task needs to be done first."
Ok, so now we're at the end of the week and I ask you:
What, exactly, have you implemented thus far of those valuable nuggets with which you came back from the conference?
Well, whatever you've put into place by the 5th day is about all that ever will get implemented ... until the next time you go to the same conference, at which time you will find the information less exciting because you will have that haunting feeling of failure with you, knowing that you had every intention in the world to change your business with what you learned last time, but didn't.
So was it that the conference material didn't apply to your business the way you thought it did initially? Not likely.
Was it that the conference material was too difficult to implement? Not likely.
Or was it, maybe, that the conference didn't provide you with clear enough strategies to follow to be able to implement the changes? Not likely.
The fact is that it's very difficult to add something new into an already jam-packed business day or a jam-packed life. It's difficult to add something new into any schedule without making room for it. We need to plan the time to plan in order to make changes. The opportunities to implement change just don't present themselves. Nor do the changes just happen, as you are well aware. It is up to us to make those changes happen.
This means that we need to actually schedule into our agendas the time we are going to allow ourselves to work on planning out the changes. Then we need to schedule into our agendas the time we are going to work at implementing the changes -- little by little. If we don't plan our time to plan, no changes of any value will ever happen.
So when is your next conference scheduled for? I suggest that before you even leave your office to attend the conference you set aside at least one hour twice each week for at least the first three weeks following the conference to allow yourself time to plan the changes and to start implementing them. After all, conferences are quite an investment with the cost, the meals, and the travel and lodging expense.
So, ENJOY your next conference ... and all the benefits resulting from it, such as the time away to rejuvenate yourself and the value it adds to the way you do business, as well!!!
Promising you, too,
MORE PROFIT
TONS MORE FUN
RETIREMENT ... on your terms!
'Cause that's what it's all about.
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