Guest post by Cass Mullane, Creative Innovator, Right-Brain Business Plan® Licensed Facilitator, Prosper Creatively, LLC
You’ve just gotten back from a great workshop or class or conference. Your mind is open and your head is overflowing with great ideas and inspiration. You look over your notes and handouts and feel excited to get to work and to do some of the things you learned.
Then your phone pings, so you put your notes aside to check your email or answer a text or get on social media. Someone drops by, you chat about the things that happened while you were gone, then you quickly slip right back into the old routine… And the sizzle starts to fade.
A few weeks later, you come across your notes from the event and remember that the thing with the star beside it meant it was really cool, but you cannot remember exactly why. All that great information fades into the background and goes to waste because you didn’t get back to it in time. It’s no longer fresh and sizzling so it loses importance.
Coming back from an event is a challenge especially if no one around you attended. They’re not in the same frame of mind as you are. You’ve changed, they’ve remained the same. So, what can you do about it?
First of all, turn off your distractions, close your door and intentionally review your notes and handouts. Just the act of re-reading your notes will remind you of the things you wanted to pay attention to and it will reinforce the fact that you have an opportunity to make some positive changes.
While you’re reading, use your Stop-Start-Continue skills to figure out what could be beneficial for your business. Code your notes to highlight the things you want to Start, the things you want to Stop and the things you want to Continue.
Then, run through your Stop-Start-Continue codes and:
- Pick three or four things that you could implement quickly that would make a difference in your business.
- Pick one of those and put it in place right now.
- Decide when you will implement the remaining things and put those start and end dates in your calendar. These are dates you must commit to.
- Connect with someone you met at the event and ask them to be your accountability partner. You have a shared foundation and experience that you can help each other tap when you feel yourself getting off track. (If you’re about to go to an event, set the intention of meeting at least one accountability partner there!)
- Commit to following through with all of this.
Events are fantastic sources of inspiration, fresh perspective, deeper insight and even a swift kick in the pants to move you into action. You have the opportunity to take advantage of other people’s experience and knowledge to optimize something in your business, avoid a pitfall or streamline a process. Make sure you maximize the benefits to your business by committing to selecting a few key things you learned and working them into your business intentionally. That way, while the party may have ended, you can capitalize on the good feeling by improving your business.
©2019 Cass Mullane – All rights reserved
Like many great innovators, Cass Mullane has the unique combination of being a strong creative as well as a strategic thinking MBA. After departing the corporate world in 2004, Cass built a thriving business and personal coaching practice that focuses on accountability and specializes in solid business skills for right-brainers and creatives. Tapping into this whole-brain approach has helped to make Cass a highly valued coach with an international clientele.
Cass’ new #1 International Bestseller, The Cool Stuff Jar: Three Simple Ways to Live a Happier Life, is now out on Kindle! Keep tabs on the book launch and all the fun following the launch by visiting www.coolstuffjar.com and entering your email. You can also follow Cass on Facebook!