From Retirement To Career Change

Can You Buy a System for Success?

I've put myself on a tighter budget so that spending for professional development is less than it was last year. Yet, I almost purchased another class. This one is a home study approach to organizing and become more efficient with all the information I already have about Internet marketing and making money on line. Why not? I thought. I am often overwhelmed and could always use some expertise.

The creator of the product is well known, successful, reliable, honest – everything good. It was a 4-part class and you had to submit homework that showed you understand the first part before you could continue to the next part.

And then I thought, his system may work for him, but it may not work for me. I know what I need to do. Make time for organizing, filing, nitty gritty stuff that will help me become more efficient. It's just like I know what I have to do to lose weight. No program is going to do it for me automatically. I need to take in less calories than I burn which means eating less or exercising more. Simple!

There is so much written now about thousands of systems for success. It is self-help's obsession with systems. If you want to make big money telling people how to change their lives, you've got to come up with a system. The promise of these systems is automatic self-improvement which bridges that cavernous gap of knowing how to change and actually changing. Here is the system that will help you lose weight, help you write articles, help your relationship with your boss, your wife, your kids.

Systems do work, but usually it's not because of the details that are elaborated. You will lose weight on the grapefruit diet because you've reduced your calories considerably. You probably will lose weight on the carbs-to-protein ratio diet or weight watchers or the cabbage soup diet for the same reason – you've reduced your caloric intake.

Do I need a system that tells me I am overcommitted at times ? I already know that.

It's more than self help that works – at least for me. For years, psychotherapists have argued about which school works best – Freudian, Jungian, cognitive therapy, etc. In 2001, a study led by psychologist Bruce Wampold shocked everyone. Therapy worked, often more than drugs, but the kind of therapy was not important. What mattered wasn't the techniques of a particular system but rather if the therapist were trusted and competent.

Does that mean the coaches win –that is, if they don't have a system. Or maybe we need to learn systems and then adjust them to meet our own needs and strengths.

I would certainly like your opinion on whether you think a system can bring success. It would be really interesting to find out if you found a system that has helped you immensely and why it worked so well for you. Scroll down to comments and type as much as you want in the blank window.

To your continued business success.

Ruthan Brodsky

Networking for Financial Success

Yesterday I attended a 3-hour program which focused on a system of networking for business.  I learned about the program through a business group I belong to named BNI or Business Networking International.  

 

The purpose of BNI (which has chapters in every state and in a dozen other countries besides the

US

) is for each member of a chapter to become part of a sales team for all the other members. The object is to learn about each other's business and provide business referrals to each other.  It works well for more than 50 percent of the membership.

 

The particular program I attended was the Referral Institute, another concept of Ivan Misner, Ph.D., who also founded BNI.  He's considered the networking guru.

 

I was disappointed in the program I attended. I thought it too similar to the training programs we receive at BNI. I was even angry the last hour which was spent promoting another and longer and more expensive program for the Referral Institute. I figured I just paid to hear a sales pitch and I found that insulting.  

  

This morning I asked myself if I wasted my time also.  I met a few people. They were nice and interesting but not in my contact sphere. I kept asking myself what did I learn?

 

I learned that sometimes I'm going to make mistakes by signing up for programs that are not helpful to my business. I know there are times when I've registered for an online seminar, often at no cost. I sometimes disconnect these seminars after 10 minutes because the presenter is talking about a topic that doesn't interest me. 

I don't feel horrible because I didn't waste money or my time.

 

I don't know about you, but I've also spent money for online programs which were not what I expected or I couldn't keep up with them.  Again, it was money down the drain.  My time, however, was not wasted.

 

So what did I learn? For the umpteenth time, I need to be more thoughtful before I register for any program, on-line or 10 miles away. I need to be careful about not getting caught up in the promises given to me by people I know and trust. I am much better at not getting caught in the urgency that is always described with registering for one of these programs.  However, a couple more deep breaths before I sign my name and charge it will be helpful.  I do this for online programs.  I wait for the next day before I make a decision.  I'll do the same for on the ground seminars.

 

Hope this experience helps you while you build your business.

Love to hear your tragic stories. Type them in Comments

 

To your business success.

 

Ruthan

 

Ruthan Brodsky helps professionals and entrepreneurs find the right direction for marketing their business as they move through midlife and retirement.