No one got great at anything by waiting to start practicing it, right?
When I first conceived the idea that maybe, just maybe, I could turn my passion into revenue, that I could make what I loved doing become the focus of my day (in my case it was that I’d be good at training others to train their dogs) I did what many people do.
I took cover!
I hid.
I dived into learning, studying - courses, seminars, books, videos, you name it.
I did all those things.
I felt proud of myself.
But … nothing was happening!
No Dog school. No students. No teaching.
Why?
My dial was fixed on RECEIVE when it should have been turned to TRANSMIT!
And I realised that there’s only so much you can take in before you need to start putting it out! Might that perhaps be you? That you are still stuck on learning and hesitant to start teaching?
Of course,
🎓 You have to study your subject.
🎓 You have to know it inside out,
You owe it to your clients, your students, your customers, to give them a first-rate service.
And that means you need to do whatever learning is necessary to get started … but you don’t have to know everything!
There is CPD - Continual Professional Development - a requirement for membership of some professional organisations, which means you keep the learning going.
Life is about learning - we never stop!
Isn’t that so? Don’t we learn every day?
You need a curious mind, but you don’t need to flit from here to there without direction: that’s a delaying tactic! Putting off the evil day when you stand up for yourself and DO YOUR THING!
So I reached a stage where I realised I was ready.
I was ready to start showing others what I knew - to start pouring out from my overflowing container of knowledge! - and share it with everyone else.
Knowledge is not for hoarding! Knowledge is for sharing.
Supposing the person who found out how to make a fire had kept that knowledge secret?
We’d still be in cold caves!
You owe it to your people to get out there and spill the beans! And what’s the fastest and most efficient way to do this?
Do it!
It’s to DO IT! Just get started and DO IT!
You need experience - to learn from, to know what more you need to know - and the only way to find out is to start doing.
Did you learn to ride a bike by studying the manual?
No!
You got on, wobbled, fell off, cried, rubbed your knee, climbed back on and became proficient.
Start with an open mind and an open heart. Always keep in mind that you are there to help others, and helping them the best way possible is your duty. But you have to get started!
For some of you that may mean apprenticing with an expert or shadowing an experienced person, but if you have many years of experience in your chosen subject - the subject you’ve chosen to share with the world - and you have the necessary theory behind you, you can jump in and get started!
Why delay?
How are you going to get better at it without practicing it?
No one got great at anything by waiting to start practicing it, right?
So what are you waiting for? and I have a sneaking suspicion that I know the answer to this one.
It’s that ole “I’m not good enough” feeling!
It’s the “What if it goes wrong?” thought.
It’s the “Supposing it doesn’t work?” idea.
Well What if it goes right? What if it DOES work? Won’t that mean you’re good enough?
And how will you ever know if you don’t get started! Hmm. That silenced you, didn’t it! And I hope it silences all those silly voices in your head too!
If you have a gift for something you need to start sharing it. We’re only here for a short time! There’s no time to lose! If you desperately want to do more learning (and I hope you do!) you can do it while you’re working.
Get transmitting!
You can RECEIVE at the same time as TRANSMITTING! And this is what changed my life.
I kicked those worries to the kerb.
I knew I knew enough, and I got started - with great trepidation and nervousness, I can tell you!
But I got started and then … I didn’t have time to worry any more as my school took off! and the more I learnt through DOING it the better I got.
Does that make sense to you? That you’ll get better and better the more you do it?
I love watching my students get out there and smash it!
Here’s a little secret ..
If you have a passion project - something you’re really good at and you want to share - then there’s a good chance that your expertise, your learning, has all been focussed on that subject alone.
Take dog training for instance. You’ve worked at training your own dogs, you’ve helped out at other people’s classes, and you think you’re ready to roll.
Nope.
What you still need - and what many training courses totally omit - is to learn
How to run a business, and
How to deal with people.
You may be the world’s best dog trainer, hairdresser, accountant, wedding-planner … but if you don’t know the fundamentals of running a business, and how to deal with people so that they love you and keep coming back, it’s not going to work!
And this is where I can help you.