Hey friend, welcome back, or welcome to the Trend Report. I'm excited that you've joined me for today's conversation. I'm Sid Meadows and I'm a business advisor, coach and long-time student of the office furniture industry. My goal is pretty simple to share information with you that will help you and your business move forward each and every day, and I'm excited to share another conversation with just you and me in our 10 to win series. And today we're talking about one of my favorite topics, and that is professional development and why professional development starts with you.

There's one truth about professional development that too many people overlook it is your responsibility. If you wait for your company, your boss or someone else to invest in your growth, you're likely going to be waiting a very long time. The reality is that no one is more invested in your career than you are. Recently, an Economic Times report highlighted that professionals who completed at least one certification or learning program in the past year received appraisal-based salary increases 2.5 times higher than those who didn't. I think that sends a very clear message those who take control of their own development see real and tangible benefits in their career.

Now, when I launched my podcast in 2020, I had no idea where to begin, I didn't know what equipment I needed, how to structure a show or how to even edit an episode. So I went to what I would like to call the University of YouTube and I typed in how to start a podcast, and that's where I began. But let's be honest, the first dozen episodes or so were not my best work not even close and I'm sorry if you've actually listened to a few of those episodes way back when. But I kept going and as I went I realized that I had a choice that I could either stay average or invest in myself to master this craft, and obviously I chose the latter. I took a course on podcasting. I joined a group of podcasters who share advice and best practices on a regular basis. I listened to podcasts about podcasting and I kept learning. Over the past six seasons yes, six seasons and more than 160 episodes I've grown, I've improved and I've built something that I'm proud of, and hopefully you are too, especially since you're here with me today. But here's the thing Mastery is never one and done. Even today, I continue to invest in myself. By the end of this year, I will have attended two in-person podcasting conferences and completed a two-day workshop on public speaking to strengthen how I show up behind the mic and on stage.

Now, the biggest payoff in professional development isn't the knowledge that you gain, it's the action that you take. You can attend the conferences, listen to the podcast, hire the coaches and read every book on leadership. No-transcript Professional development is about forward progress, just like this podcast. That progress doesn't happen by accident. It happens when you take notes, capture key takeaways and translate them into an action plan that works for you and your business. Remember, growth comes from consistent application, not passive consumption. And on a side note here, I think it's important to understand that there is something known as overconsumption, or I refer to it as overcontenting. You can literally consume too much information or too much content on a topic that it actually stops you from taking action because you just keep consuming and keep consuming. I'm guilty of this and I've done it. Got a lot of stories to share around that, but today I want to share with you a really simple framework to help you capture what you've learned and how to put it into action. All right, so you ready.

Number one capture the key takeaways After every course or every conference that you attend or every coaching session that you participate in. Write down your biggest insights, and I mean do it quickly, do it no later than the end of that day, right? If you need to grab a journal to write them in, grab a special notebook, put it in your notes app on your phone, but somewhere where you're capturing your insights, because you don't want to rely on your memory, because it comes and it goes, but clarity comes from putting it on paper. I take handwritten notes during learning sessions. I love taking handwritten notes. I highlight what's important to me A lot of times I'm just like putting an arrow or an asterisk there beside it and the things that I want to follow up. I also use voice nodes, as this is a really great way to capture ideas of things that you want to remember. All right. 

Number two prioritize what matters most. Now, let's be clear not every idea or skill deserves immediate attention and sometimes not any attention as a follow-up. So ask yourself this question which of these will have the greatest impact on my growth or my business right now? So if you wrote down five or six key takeaways, ask yourself which of these will have the greatest impact on me and my growth and my business right now. Circle the top one or two, no more than two. Okay, if you try to do everything, you'll end up doing nothing. 

So the key here is to start small and then, once you've completed and or implemented your top two priorities, tackle a few more. So go to the next two, the next two right. Start small, take two of the five or six that you wrote down, implement them, take action on them. And now this will help you with step number two is to break these down into very simple action steps. So that's bullet point number three. Break it into action steps. So translate each priority into small, specific actions Like, for example, improve public speaking becomes practice, a five-minute talk weekly, or join a Toastmasters group. 

Ideally, you want to break each topic into no more than five simple actions or steps that you can take to complete the task. Don't let this become overwhelming. Okay, this is my opinion. If you can't complete the task in five steps, it might be the wrong task at the wrong time. Maybe you need to wait on it. Remember, the goal here is progress, not perfection. So take the task, the topic that you put down in bullet point number two, write down five and no more than five actions that you can take and then start the process Now. These are kind of going in sequence, right. 

So the next step, number four, is schedule them and review them. So schedule and review, because, remember, growth doesn't happen by accident. It happens on your calendar. Block time on your calendar each week to work on your action steps. Yes, set a monthly reminder to track your progress and adjust it as needed. Remember what gets scheduled gets done. You, friend, have to be committed to this. You have to be as committed to this and to you and your growth as you are to a customer meeting. So put it on your calendar. Make sure your colleagues know that that time is blocked off. Take the time to do that and focus on you and you're going to see amazing results. 

Now number five is one that I really like, and this is kind of optional, but I'm going to strongly encourage you to do number five, which is find an accountability partner. Find somebody that can help you with this. Share your goals with a trusted colleague, friend, mentor, who will check in with you on a regular basis on you and your progress. They want to know how you're doing right. And remember, accountability keeps you consistent and helps you push through the moments when motivation dips. And, trust me, your motivation and your drive will take a dip, it'll take a hit. Something will happen in your life and you'll say, oh, I just can't do it right now. It happens to everybody, so don't let this stop. You. Find an accountability partner, set the ground rules with them, ask them to check in with you once a week or once a month at how you are coming along in this. So I want to review these really quickly and you see they kind of flow together right. 

Capture the key takeaways from an event that you went to a podcast, you listened to a coaching session, whatever a book you read, whatever it is. Capture those key takeaways, write them down. I like to write them in a book or in a journal. So capture key takeaways, write them down. Look at those key takeaways and then prioritize the top two that'll have the most impact on you right now. Then take those two and, underneath them, write down no more than five action steps that you can do to complete those two ideas right. Then go to your calendar, make an appointment with yourself to schedule them, because what gets scheduled gets done and then find an accountability partner to help you, to check in with you to make sure that you're living up to your commitments to yourself. 

Because, believe me, when you take ownership of your development, you not only grow your skills, but you also send a clear signal to your company, to your boss, to your team and even to yourself that you are serious about your future. Waiting for someone else to chart your course will keep you stuck exactly where you are. Taking charge of your growth moves you forward. My favorite quotes from the famous Warren Buffett, who once said the best investment you'll ever make is in yourself. We repeat that the best investment you will ever make is in yourself. We repeat that the best investment you will ever make is in yourself. 

So ask yourself today, ask yourself this question what's one skill that you've been putting off learning that you really want to develop, you really want to learn? Is it Excel? Is it PowerPoint? Is it ChatGPT? Is it some new app that showed up on your phone? What's one skill that you've been putting off learning? Next question is what course or conference or book or a podcast or article could help you accomplish learning about that one skill? Most importantly, the last question here what action are you going to take this week to move that forward? Because, at the end of the day, friend, professional development starts with you and your future depends on it. I hope you enjoyed today's conversation.

Outro:

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I really appreciate you being here. Go out there and make today great, and we'll see you right back here again in a couple of weeks. Take care everyone.