You're At the Banquet; What Will You Put On Your Plate?

When I was a kid I LOVED when my parents would take us out to a salad bar or buffet. I would go back and forth taking a little bit of everything until I was so full I felt like you would have to roll me out of the restaurant. Did you ever see Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory? It was the 1970’s movie based on Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In one scene, a child, who has won a ticket to tour Mr. Wonka’s factory ends up turning the shape and color of a blueberry. Helpers roll her out the door on her side to be “squeezed.” That was me. Too full having taken a little too much of everything.

Your options for getting help to grow your business and reach your goals are a lot like an all access banquet. There are often so many good tasting things to choose from. But, if you do choose them all you will stuff yourself and become ineffective and unproductive. And, you will have to wait until all of that food settles until you can get back to work. I know this is not the solution you are looking for. You need to select items onto your plate that will fill you with the nourishment to keep you going, sustain you for the long haul.

What do good, nourishing, sustainable selections look like? Here is what I put on my plate and I hope it will help you, too.

• I ENROLL only in the free programs that I can implement. If you sign up for a 30 day challenge and do none of it, you are going to overwhelm your inbox (and your brain) as each day’s reminders come in. If you sign up for that same challenge and a few others at the same time, you will not get enough from any one of them to be effective but you will waste your time trying.  If you do sign up for a free program, carve out the time for the classes and assignments just as if you have paid for it. You ARE paying in your time. You want to get results.  
  
  
• I ALIGN the programs with what I need. It seems like a no-brainer, but when you are being presented with a lot of great options, it can be hard to remember to only sign up for programs, read books, go to classes that actually align with what you need. Look at your goals for the year, if you have a goal to bring in more clients and close more deals AND you have already gone to classes on these subjects, then a class or resource on how to IMPLEMENT would be a better option than another class on sales.  
  
  
• I STORE items in the pantry. Good information stores well. It is a marketing tool to help you take fast action when programs are, “On Sale Now!” I use this tool myself. However, if you do not need something right now then a good price is still too expensive. The information you need will be there when you need it. This stuff stores well, like fine wine :-) You may have to pay a little more (or perhaps not) if you wait. But, going back to tip #1: you want to only enroll in programs you have time to implement. I keep a file of programs to look at 6 months from now. It gives me the space to re-evaluate later and make a decision once I have a bit more space from it.
  
  
• Introductory and overview courses are like salt: USE SPARINGLY. Starting at level 1 in program after program is going to keep you at level 1. If you want to move up in your learning and understanding then you need to progress to the next level, even if it means a higher investment.
  
  
• I don’t put anything on my plate that’s meant for someone else. Fill your plate with the food meant for YOU. To grow your business, you need not become an expert in everything, just an expert in your unique brilliance. So if marketing is not your thing, don’t put it on your plate. Allow someone else to and then work with that person.

These are concepts that I use to fill my plate with the right information that will sustain my business. I have built the Momentum Programs around these concepts. The Masterclass Series is one example. It includes one class a month from an expert in their field positioned to deliver content you need without overwhelming you and always leaving you with an action step you can move forward on. If you would like to learn more and access the first class in the series to see what is all about, you can check it out here https://creatingmomentumprogram.com/webinar