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Remind Yourself How Much You Have Learned

Just as you have probably accomplished more than you realized, you also have learned more than you realized. But the key to getting the most out of that new knowledge is actually putting it to use. This ritual from coach Christi Heisted can help, she states;

“Cull your notes from the conferences, classes, and webinars you’ve attended throughout the year, as well as the books you’ve read. Summarize your key learnings and set your top 3-5 action steps. Knowledge is great, but knowledge plus implementation makes you unstoppable.

First begin with the conferences, webinars, College classes, and new certifications that you attended in this calendar year. Get the notes, workbooks, notepads, digital documents, etc our in front of you. Take one set of notes at a time and review those notes. Write out the top 3-5 action steps that you learned in that moment. Now add these to your planning tools for the new year. Enter action steps that will lead you to the fulfillment of what you learned in that moment.

Remember that small steps are to be preferred versus attempting to conquer the action step all at once. FOCUS – Leaders do not grow in a day, but they grow daily!

This leads to a deeper life goal – What is my growth plan for the new year? It seems that our digital age has lured us into thinking that digital habits are the new normal. While digital technology is the new normal, our daily habits and ritual need refinement. When you implement new action steps that lead you to a “newer version of yourself,” you must be aware of distractions. We now know through research that when you are engaged in “DEEP WORK”, any distraction that interrupts your thoughts and  development will cost you 25 minutes of your time to regain that momentum again. If you are not setting your schedule, others will set it or you.

Once you have dealt with how you will minimize the distractions in your daily routines, now you can move forward to actually developing a growth plan.

I know that my next statement is going to sound “old school,” but I truly believe that if you cannot articulate your plans and dreams in writing, you are only “daydreaming!” Without getting lost in research speak, there is something to be said about the art of writing and deep thought being placed on paper. A Growth Plan that is going to be transformational in producing  a new version of yourself cannot be “copy and paste.” In my humble opinion the millions of Google searches are not necessarily deep research leading to deep thought. They are more representations of algorithms that represent others curiosity. Deep work that is transformational in your life is far more sophisticated that a quick Google search.

I want to say a few words in closing about the books that have been read this year. In the same manner of reviewing the notes from various conferences, take some time to review the top 3-5 ideas from the books you read this year. Either journal your learning in terms of its impact or establish action steps to implement your learning from the book into action steps for the new year. For me personally, I find that when I put pen to paper in my journal notebooks, the learning stays with me in thought and practice. The books that we read are more about personal development versus some new model to implement. Growing at the personal level definitely cannot be a “copy and paste” practice. That method will eventually show itself in your leading. FOCUS: You cannot lead where you have not walked! You cannot go to a new place until you leave your present. What will you leave in order to reach forward?

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Music:  “Wishful Thinking” by Dan Lebowitz

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