How often do we think of or hear people say “I need a little me time”? The reason this is a concept is that we know intuitively we need down time to recharge our batteries in our personal lives. With the pressures of family, work, schools, and activities it seems like we are all pulled in a hundred different directions. Every now and then we need to spend some time on ourselves. This could be reading a book, taking a vacation, an outdoor venture or maybe a spa day. All of these things help us to relax and to improve ourselves in some way on a personal level.
Let’s look at this from a different perspective. What about our business self? What areas of improvement does this part of us need? How about a little “professional me time”?
We all need to take time on a regular basis to keep strengthening our professional skills. Lifelong learning is something that all of us know we need to consider, but very few of us embrace. This can be reading, taking a class or a webinar, listening to a speaker or mentoring someone. It can be simple or complex, that doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that you do something to keep yourself at the top of your game. Of course, you can coast along and think that you’re doing everything you can by working your job but that won’t elevate you or your business. Real professional development requires effort and time. Like any machine, if left alone for too long we’ll start to have problems and loose the performance we once had. It takes planning and regular tune-ups to keep us at the top of our game.
So, the next time you’re getting ready to “binge watch” the latest Netflix pick of the month or take a road trip and listen to the same old music – think about this. Maybe it would be an even better idea to break out the Kindle or a good old book and work on your “professional” self-development. There are many great books out there on leadership, team building, coaching, etc.. If you need ideas give me a shout. Long trips are perfect opportunities to listen to books on CD or podcast. There are so many good options out there to help us improve on many different skills.
The Growth Factory is here to help with any development needs that you or your team may have. Give us a call or send me an email – tim@thegrowthfactory.com and we can work with you to get batteries recharged or give a total tune up. The main thing is to start looking at your professional development as a part of the total “business” you and to understand it’s a machine that will need attention to have you at your best every day.
Wishing you Growth!
Tim