I’m sad when I hear that people spend time and money on training and then don’t put what they’ve learned into practice. What a waste. Mottainai.
This applies to me too. I’ve taken courses and not made the most of what I learned.
Why do we waste time and money like this? And what can we do to avoid it?
Some see training as a quick fix: take a class and solve the problem. So easy today with so many courses available online.
But it takes time to develop new skills because we need practice. Through practice, we can create new habits.
At the end of a workshop or course, we may have the best intentions to practice what we learned and create those habits. But then we don’t. At least, some of us don’t.
I was intrigued to read about Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies.
Gretchen says, “When we try to form a new habit, we’re setting an expectation for ourselves. Therefore, to change our habits, it’s crucial to understand how we respond to expectations.”
She figured out the Four Tendencies framework through her research for the book Better Than Before (which I loved!),
The framework “distinguishes how people tend to respond to expectations: outer expectations (a deadline, a “request” from a sweetheart) and inner expectations (write a novel in your free time, keep a New Year’s resolution).”
What’s your tendency?
Upholders respond readily to outer and inner expectations
Questioners question all expectations; they’ll meet an expectation if they think it makes sense–essentially, they make all expectations into inner expectations
Obligers meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet expectations they impose on themselves
Rebels resist all expectations, outer and inner alike
Even before taking Gretchen’s quiz, I knew I was an Obliger. If I make a commitment only to myself, I easily forget about it or leave it languishing at the bottom of my to-do list because I put other people first. But if I make the commitment to others, I follow through.
With this new awareness, I started telling others when I wanted to put into practice something that I’d learned – whether from a training or even from something I’d read, watched, or listed to.
I’ve had particular success in developing productivity skills and habits as part of an online group of female entrepreneurs led by Jo Bendle because we make daily commitments in a private Facebook group. As an Obliger, creating outer expectations in this way is a massive motivation for me to follow through.
The next time you take a training, think about your tendency.
Upholder? Great! You’ll probably do what’s expected of you after the training. You can make even more of what you’ve learned by creating extra expectations for yourself. Go for it!
Questioner? Take time to question what was taught and then do what makes sense to you. This way you can make the most of the training in the way that best suits you (we’re all different).
Rebel? I guess you’re not reading this because you don’t want me telling you what to do – lol!
Obliger? I’m sure you’ll follow through on any commitments you made to others during the training. But when it comes to really making the most of the training and putting what you learned into practice to benefit you, I recommend finding an accountability partner or group to help create that outer expectation.
I hope this awareness of Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies helps you make the most of any training that you take 🙂