Monday, January 02, 2006

Be a Better Expert in 2006

Last week we sent an email to our newsletter readers Be A Better Expert in 2006 . We received several responses with the same theme: "I appreciate the ideas, but where would I find the time? Between holding on the phone with my Internet provider, going to the Post Office, paying bills, etc., I barely find time for billable work! When would I attend classes or read books!?!"

Rosalie responded to one such inquiry in a way that really hit the nail on the head, in my unbiased :-) opinion. Here are her thoughts:

"I totally understand! It is the core -- how well a self-employed consultant conquers this challenge determines whether or not he or she makes money.

"I am taking 30 minutes a night to read, right before I go to sleep, as I don't really have time for self-improvement reading either. But, "If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll have more of what you've got." I don't know where I heard that many years ago, but it's total truth, and I remind myself of it when the problem seems circular, as in, 'I can't change things because I'm too busy coping with the problems caused by the way the things are now!'

"That's the bottom line -- no matter how challenging it is to solve the problem, it has to be solved, or next year at this time, you will be right where you are now. That makes it worthwhile to DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

"I wish you good courage. Changing things takes it." - Rosalie Hamilton

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I think you are right. This is a core problem for any self-employed person: How do I adequately cover all the work that must be done and still have time to work on professional enhancement, not to mention building the business?

I also think Rosalie's suggestion to schedule even small amounts of time wherever possible to get these things done is very sensible and workable. If you don't have hours to devote to reading, get that 30 minutes in every day and it will add up. I try to do something similar, setting aside certain times of the day for various tasts. This doesn't always work for me and it takes some discipline to stick with it but in the end it makes a big difference in what I am able to accomplish.

Thanks for the tip!