Why so many seminars don’t work
You know how it goes… There’s an industry guru you really respect. You get an email about a new program he is offering. It sounds great and you sign up.
It’s going to cost thousands of dollars. But you know his stuff works and you really really want to start seeing some changes in your business.
You put your business on hold for a week and go attend the seminar.
It is amazing - every bit as good as you thought it would be!
Each session is filled with the most useful information - stuff you can apply immediately in your business. And the other people there are great - just as excited as you are - there is so much energy in the room.
You work day and night - you stay up til 3am working on the assignments. You are filled with ideas - they just keep coming. You scribble on all the margins of your notebook. This is totally going to transform your business.
At the end of the week you are exhausted. But you are now thinking about your business in a new way. You know this is going to work.
You come home and get back to the office.
Of course things have piled up. I mean, you did a pretty good job of staying on top of everything while you were gone, but there is still a lot of stuff you have to clear off your plate. You dig right in and plow through it.
Whew, that’s done. Now you can get started implementing all the new things you learned. You pull out your notebook, and uh-oh…
All of a sudden things that seemed so clear and simple now seem complicated.
It made sense when you were in the seminar, but your business is a little different from what they were describing. You’ve got some quirks you have to deal with and you’re not sure how to modify what you learned.
You keep trying for a little while, but within a few weeks the demands of your business have pulled you back to business as usual. That notebook, full of wonderful ideas, is now sitting on the shelf.
If you’re like me, you’ve done this far more times than you’d like to recall.
Or maybe you’re better than I am, and have actually been able to implement some of the things you’ve learned successfully. (You have my deepest congratulations!)
But I’ve been struggling with this for years…
How exactly do you successfully make changes in your business?
And I’ve come to the conclusion that it takes 3 things.
1. You need to have help after the course.
Sounds obvious. But most people who do courses are focused on providing a wonderful experience AT THE COURSE. They don’t think about what’s needed after you get home, when you really need help getting the ideas implemented so you can get the full value.
2. You need to be accountable.
We all live such demanding lives that it is the easiest thing in the world to get sucked into dealing with all the day-to-day problems and not take the strategic actions we need to make real changes.
BUT if you know you are going to have to report to someone about the progress you are making you will put forth extra effort to do the work.
3. Someone other than you needs to care that you make progress.
It’s not just about being accountable - about standing up and telling the world in general about your progress (or lack thereof).
You need to have someone who personally checks in and nudges you - who cares that you are making this work.
AND it can’t take a ton of time to do. Because you are BUSY!
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