I coached a client recently who was needing to declutter their Google Drive.
The disorganisation and digital clutter was wrecking her headspace and making her feel out of control.
Interestingly, once we sorted it all out and had a look at what was in her collection of files, what became increasingly obvious was that she had bought and downloaded a lot of educational resources. She’d downloaded it sure, but never got into it. She’d meant to. And there were some really useful things in the mix there but they hadn’t been explored and digested.
Never completed
My client isn’t alone. It’s thought that more than 80% of people who buy online courses never actually complete them. And, the sad part is, this isn’t just the odd course from a fitness guru, marketing expert, parenting author or manifesting expert. There are also stats claiming that even when it comes to tertiary education — where people are taking on a large student debt — attendance and completion of online courses is dwindling.
So, why is this? Is it a lack of time? A lack of commitment? The idea that by simply purchasing education we are somehow better off, or we’ve improved ourselves? Even if that education never pushes us to take action? Or, could it be that we are simply used to breaking a promise to ourselves, whereas if we were forced to stay accountable to others, we might actually turn up or put the effort in to execute on what we have learned?
Plan ahead
I’m not sure what the answer is. I can say though that through my experience of coaching people on their time management that the people who take the biggest leaps forward are those who not only showed up to the calls but who took steady and consistent action on what they had learned.
I have had emails and messages from people who attended a course of mine, webinars or my Monthly Goal Setting Hour, who have made one night a week their “personal development” evening – a time when they can really dive into those courses that they’ve bought or are interested in. Others have made a night their “learning Japanese night” or been able to finish paintings that have been in the corner for years because they have implemented systems and processes they learned. In fact, this is a huge part of why I love running my Four Weeks to Get your Life Under Control course. It’s my hope that the 4 weeks of live coaching helps people not only complete the course and understand the technical time management skills that they need, but also kickstarts the habit of showing up and implementing what they are learning.
Put it into practice
It’s one thing to consume content and education, quite another to execute on it.
If you get nothing else from this post, take a moment to consider this: How can you dedicate time this week, this month or this quarter to reviewing education you have received and implement what you have learned? Which habits can you set up that aid in expanding your knowledge and creating success in your life because of it? It really is fantastic to be committed to learning but the value of it triples once it’s put into practice.
