If you are attending any self-development or business education events such as the upcoming B-xponential, the key to success is making sure you take responsibility for getting value from the experience.

At education events, the ‘a-ha’ moments can surprise you.  The most interesting, informative and educational moments may not be spent in the sessions themselves: sometimes it’s in informal interactions with other attendees.

The lectures, talks, and panels might provide some new ideas, but can be one-directional, and you can get the slides or books by the speakers later.

Yet the unique, personal, and insightful conversations you have can only take place with other people and can only happen at the event, which means you need to invest time in connecting with other people.

Also, ensure you contribute and participate. Ask questions from the  floor of the speakers or panel if you have the opportunity. Make notes of any ‘lightbulb’ moments in your event guide or – for maximum efficiency – use a tool like Evernote to set up digital notebooks, snap screenshots of the speakers’ presentations, and import direct into the application. It means all your lessons and ideas are in one place and you’re not scrambling around with loose notes. You can also snap business cards into Evernote too, so you can track who you connect with at the event.

Some events, like B-xponential, offer follow-up sessions with experts. You typically have to pay extra to attend these but it can take your learning to whole new level, as well as keeping you surrounded, motivated and inspired by a like-minded cohort.

Plan ahead.

A day before the event, sit down with the proceedings and the small guidebook or agenda that they often provide you with. Go through with a pen, and mark anything that looks interesting. If you find things that sound cool but vague, flip open the proceedings and check them out. Circle all of the sessions that look interesting, and if two or more occur at the same time, flag the one you want to go to first.

Plan to be social.

Even if you are an introvert, it’s worth stretching yourself. By making  initial connections, you’ll be able to jump in on some conversations and meet more people. If you can get into the right mindset, you can have a lot of fun socialising and sharing between different groups.

Relax.

You will learn much better by having fun and enjoying the people I’m with. You can’t do that if you are fixated on getting to every session on time, or not staying out too late, or trying to achieve any specific objective.

By  relaxing and enjoying your time away from the office, you will be more open to new ideas and approaches for what to do when you  get back.
The primary reason to attend such events is to learn. It’s your job to figure out what kind of environment and state of mind you need to be in to best facilitate that objective.

There’s loads of tools to get your website working harder and your marketing to get results. Bx coaching can help you find the right tools for your business and pave the way for your success. Call Bx on 1300 068 229 or find out about our Business for Life Program.

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At B-x, we’re big fans of training programs – fairly obviously as we run one. We’re fans for ourselves too and regularly invest in training and professional development for all of our team members.

But it’s vital to remember that just going to the training session or conference or event isn’t enough.

Participating in these events are an important impetus and inspiration for change. However real, lasting change and results will only come from implementing a process to take action.

It’s also unrealistic to try to instigate big changes overnight. You’ll simply be overwhelmed and burn out from trying to do too much at once.

So what’s the answer? How do you make sure that investment in training and development isn’t just a big expense with no reward or business impact?

Prioritise

It’s easy in business to get distracted by the latest shiny new thing and training sessions are no exception to this. When deciding what to action, take the time to consider the likely impact of the changes you want to make on your business, from zero being no impact, up to ten being maximum impact. To prevent becoming overwhelmed by all the things you could be doing, this process will help you determine the things you should be doing.

Put your training resources into action

It’s simple really – regular, consistent action after chunking down big goals into smaller, achievable targets. Before attending the training, it’s helpful to be clear on what you want to get out of this investment and the ideal changes you want to see. After you’ve attended the training event, or completed the course, take a moment to assess if those same goals still apply or if you have new objectives as a result of what you learnt and were inspired by.

Then make a plan.

Schedule time in your calendar to make time each day, week or month to implement specific actions as a result of the training. For example, if your goal is to improve business planning, schedule non-negotiable time in your diary for taking ten minutes to plan each day, thirty minutes to set goals for the week ahead, and half a day to review objectives for the month.

Don’t delay

The other important step is to build momentum straight away. After any training event, pick one action that you can complete within 24 hours. Get a small win on the board and use this to motivate you to keep going to make progress to your big overall goal.

Commitment and consistency

Without a doubt the factor that will have the most impact on your business is your own commitment. Consistent action and aiming for continual growth will serve you and your business more than sporadic bursts of activity after the latest webinar you sign up for.

Be accountable

The other great tip to keep you on track and committed to making changes is to find someone to be accountable to and report on your progress. This might be a business coach, a mentor, or even members of your team. By publically stating goals and regularly reporting your progress towards those goals, you can see the progress and be encouraged to continue chipping away.

Bx training is all about inspiring business owners AND then supporting you to take the necessary action to get results. To find out more about our events and ongoing coaching, call Bx on 1300 068 229. Business for Life Program.

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