Recently our mentor advised us on 4 key metrics to focus on, track and measure along the journey to big goal achievement. One of those key areas is education. Coincidentally, I’ve received some similar and very fitting teachings from a couple of virtual mentors this week which really emphasise this point on the need to be strategic about our learning. So here’s my summary for all you voracious learners in the community. There are no shortcuts but these are some of the best pointers I’ve collated in recent times in regards to finding the most organised and result oriented approach to learning.
FOUR POINTERS ON HOW TO STREAMLINE YOUR LEARNING:
(credit here to one of Darren Hardy’s great videos this week and to Peter, one of my other mentors)
#1: Be sure you understand the difference between what you’re studying and what you are just marinating your mind with.
-The stuff you want to be actively studying should be directly related to your no.1 goal this year (ie ask yourself- what’s the no.1 skill needed for achieving that goal?) That’s what you should be consciously consuming, taking notes on and applying.
Then there’s the stuff you are reading/listening/watching to keep your mind and behaviour positive ie podcasts, biographies.
Every property entrepreneur should be picking a capability area to close the gap on that’s relevant to them. Here are some great questions to help you identify what would be a force multiplier for you in your goal achievement.
- What are your biggest fears when you consider your main goal for 2019/or your Q1 90 day plan?
- What are the most likely points of failure in your plan?
- What would have to happen for everything to exceed your expectations?
- What skills would stack the odds in your favour? – i) if you were delegating this to someone, what skills would you look for on their CV; ii) if you had spent the last year mastering anything, what would it have been to help make you great at that thing now?
- What is the no.1 skill (of those you’ve listed so far) that is likely to drive an exponential result improvement?
- How many hours invested in this skill would want to see in a staff member working in your role?
- What specific steps can you take to improve your skill set in this area?
-Books to read
-Courses to complete
-Industry events to attend
-Advisors to work with
The aim is to build a syllabus for yourself, not based on what’s flavour of the month (although I have been culprit of that in the past) but based on the best concepts/practices etc written in your chosen area.
Rather than picking your learning material based on how well it’s marketed, pick it based on the answers to questions like these on what you need and how it fits into your plan.
In my case, I’ve identified the need to grow my capability in marketing, not just within our SA business but across all areas of ours businesses, as it relates to our current and future offerings.
#2: Understand the difference between just in time and just in case learning.
As Darren eloquently pointed out, success seekers consume too much disjointed learning, in other words, just in case we might need it at some point (also referred to as FOMO type learning). My hands are up again, I’ve done this more than I care to recall too. Instead, Darren reminds us to focus on what we need to learn now, to help achieve our goals now.
#3: Learn to go wide (ie get broad exposure across the subject matter) but then go deep.
In other words find one expert you like, or one voice as it were to read/listen to all their stuff. (I”ve consumed pretty much all of the content Darren Hardy has shared since first discovering The Compound Effect in 2008).
#4: You need both skill and wisdom growth.
Put simply, we need to also remember to read/listen to things unrelated to business and property in order to increase our awareness and empathy of people and the wider world.
What will be your biggest force multiplier when it comes to your education for the next few months?