Look at all the programs, courses and downloads you have purchased this year. Do they all point in the right direction?
As writers we need to learn. As freelancers we need to learn. As marketers we need to learn.
As a result, we find ourselves buying plenty of instructional materials over the course of a year. I certainly do. In fact, I consider it an essential part of my work to continue learning.
I keep up with what my peers and betters are doing and saying. I buy business books, most of them as the audio version. And I’ll sometimes invest in a more substantial course or program.
When things are going well for me, every one of these purchases adds to my knowledge and helps me move forward in exactly the direction I have planned.
But sometimes things don’t go so well.
One symptom of this is when I start impulsively buying and downloading guides and programs that all point off in different directions.
It’s like I have lost my sense or direction, or a measure of my self-confidence.
Over time I have learned to recognize when my business buying and learning habits are counterproductive.
For me, buying too many downloads and subscribing to too many e-newsletters is a sign that I need to stop, step back and review what is going on.
I review my three-year plan. I remind myself of my milestones and waypoints. I re-visualize my destination.
Then I take a more objective look at how I may have been distracting and unsettling myself with a host of programs, downloads and newsletter subscriptions.
I delete and unsubscribe. I clear away everything that isn’t helping me move forward in exactly the right direction.
How about you?
Do you pull out your credit card and start buying simply to give yourself the impression that you are busy and in motion?
Or do you have a much clearer focus, and buy only those learning materials that will move you forward in exactly the direction you have planned?
As freelancers our time is very limited. We need as many of our hours as possible to be billable hours. We don’t have time to waste.
That’s why we need to plan. We need to know exactly where we are going and how we are going to get there.
And that’s why the learning materials we do buy must move us forward in exactly the direction we have plotted for ourselves.
Have a look through your download files and on your shelves.
When it comes to learning materials for your business, how wisely have you been spending your time and your money?
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