Please do not come to a workshop to learn!

I guess what I really mean is please do not come to a workshop JUST to learn.  Now I’m not suggesting that learning isn’t a good thing.  Of course it is.  But learning is only part of the job, and I guess that is my point.  You have to implement what you learn, otherwise, to some degree at least, what you learn is just a waste.

Members often say to me, “Oh, I’ve done that workshop”, as a reason not to attend, while some that do attend say afterwards “I’ve heard it all before”.  The thing that gets me is that these members aren’t doing the stuff that they learn.  Learning on its own will not bring results; you have to put into practice what you have learnt.

So, please don’t come to a workshop just to tick a box or fulfil an obligation.  It’s a waste of both your time and the trainer's.  Instead, attend because you see the benefit and have a plan.  And your plan doesn’t have to be anything too complicated.  So how about this for a very simple plan?

Next time you attend a workshop look for just two things that you will implement.  The first might be something that you already know but aren’t doing and the second something new, or at least a new way of doing something.  Write both of these things on a new sheet of paper (or new page on your ipad!).  These are now the two things that you will implement beginning the next day.  I promise that if you do this you will see an improvement in whatever it is that you are doing.

Then, once these two things are working well (are second nature) find another thing that you can implement by going back to your notes and doing that.

No matter how many times you attend a workshop there will always be something to find that, if implemented and not just learnt, will make a difference to your business.  You just need to find that one thing and use it.

So, please make your plan not to attend a workshop and learn but rather to implement what you have learnt, as only then will you see the true value of the workshops that BNI make available to you.

And, as a bonus, you might even meet your next best contact!