Self-Improvement

Big industry. Hot Topic.There are lots of ways to improve yourself and your business of course, reading books, attending seminars and taking classes are just a few ways you can further your education and knowledge in your arena and hopefully improve overall.I have noticed one thing, particularly pertaining to seminars & motivational speeches: They don't change or even improve you. They can give you the tips, tools and material for you to use to better your processes but your processes and teams don't better themselves. Unfortunately we have those folks that attend every single rah-rah event they possibly can and still aren't winning in their business or personal lives to prove this fact.Seminars can be a great way to glean new ideas and suggestions on whatever it is your trying to improve. While there may be some wanna-be's present (those addicted to theory and classrooms and forgoing action), there is sure to be those in attendance that are actually doing it as well, actually winning. These are the people that take stuff home and actually apply it, forcing the rubber to meet the road and moving the vehicle along.So here's a couple things worth mentioning for your next 'betterment' event, be it a meeting, class, seminar or sermon:Listen and Learn. If all you're thinking about is how the guy sitting next to you desperately needs to be hearing this you're totally missing opportunity to learn yourself. You've got to be thinking about how you can apply this material to YOUR life, business, department or team.Think Big. Thinking big and dreaming is probably one of the more misunderstood aspects in business, maybe even life in general. We've all seen the big dreamers that are pretty much good for just that, dreaming. When they speak everyone politely nods while knowing within this poor fellow will never act on any of it. Then there's the other side who are so afraid of failure and embarrassment they never dream, too afraid to be labelled as the 'dreamer'. Think big, just have a plan to back it up.Scale it. You've got to be reasonable. If you tell your team of 3 you've been enlightened and want to take your brand national next week they'll give you the gut check you deserve. Having a goal to be a national brand or industry leader is great but you're going to have to start performing like a winner at the scale you're at then put systems in place to protect that while you grow.Write it down. If you hear something of extra value or that strikes a chord, write it down. You can always cross it off later but if you forget a worthwhile nugget it could minimize the investment it took to be there in the first place.Just do it. Change is not always accepted easily. If you're too afraid to make necessary changes and improvements you should have saved the time and money and just stayed home.To recap. You're only as good as your actions, not simply your intentions or even your education. Big difference. And don't be so afraid of being labelled as 'just a dreamer' that you're never willing to stick your neck out and try something new or better.Question: Have you ever came away from an event all fired up and ready to take over the world and realize 3 months later that nothing has changed?