Training Blog...

The time is near when the kids will be done with school for the year. The summer season is fast approaching. Lawns are being mowed, sprinklers turned on, swimwear taken out of drawers with anticipation. The year – it is a’changin’.

Change can be stressful. Sometimes the unfamiliar leaps at us from out of the blue, and can be a bit scary. But change, as they say, is inevitable. So how do we manage change? Or better yet, how do we embrace change and make it work for us? One of the best ways to embrace change is to be prepared.

Be constantly learning new things. Read voraciously. Take courses. Use strategic thinking to anticipate change.

Those who best anticipate change and welcome it are often best prepared to take advantage of it in a way that can put them ahead of the pack. Remember that change is how we grow, whether it is in our work or our personal lives.

So the next time you feel a change coming, instead of shrinking away, you can say, “Bring it on!”

As a number of TTN speakers have said, if you really want to learn something from top to bottom, the best way to do it is to teach it to someone else. This forces you to really study, really get to know that subject – and the more you learn about it, the better you’ll be able to teach it. The more you teach it, the more you will absorb it. It will become ingrained in your mind, and the lesson, whatever it may be, will become second nature to you. It’s one of those great cyclical win-win things. Not only do you learn it really well, you also impart that knowledge to someone else. By giving your knowledge, you actually gain more knowledge. How cool is that?

For example, say there’s a TTN course you really like and really want to not only get those principles down, but want your employees to learn them, as well. Of course, you can just have them watch the course, but why not make a project of it? Print out the accompanying materials and guide your employees through the course. Discuss it. Ask questions. Answer questions. This way, the material will gain a more solid foothold in everyone’s knowledge base.

Have you ever been driving when a small piece of gravel gets flung up by the vehicle in front of you, hitting your windshield and creating a tiny ‘ding’ in the glass? The best thing to do is get that small imperfection fixed immediately; have it filled in with whatever magic polymer the auto-glass companies use. Because what happens if we ignore it and let it sit? It grows. That little ‘ding’ is like a seed in the glass that sprouts roots – cracks slowly spread across your windshield until you realize the entire thing must be replaced.

This is much like letting things lapse at your workplace. Maybe there’s something you keep putting off, thinking it’s not a big deal, or it’s sort of a pain, and you’ll get to it later. It’s just a little ‘ding’, right? But if you keep ignoring it, that little ‘ding’ can grow into a big problem.

Tackling the little things before they grow into big problems is one way to keep your job less stressful and more productive.

About this time every year with the arrival of spring, I get that itchy feeling of needing to get outside, load myself and my family in the car and hit the road. There’s nothing like exploring new highways and byways, towns, shops and museums on those pleasant weekends you haven’t seen since the previous autumn.

So what turns a merely pleasant road trip into a super road trip? Planning!

Sure – it’s nice to come upon the unexpected. But when you take the time to do a little research – looking up restaurants, roadside curiosities and museums on the internet or in books – your experience will be that much more rewarding. Now you won’t miss the must-sees, the best burgers, the most awe-inspiring views. And the anticipation involved in the planning is nearly as much fun as the trip itself!

This type of planning – while perhaps not quite as much fun – can help make your workday a lot more pleasant and productive. By taking the time to plan out your day – making lists and prioritizing projects – you’ll be much less likely to miss those important tasks or run out of the time to accomplish them.

Brian Tracy offers a number of excellent time management courses on TTN’s LMS, which go into detail about effective ways to plan your day, whether it’s a workday, a weekend day, or a day for hitting the road!