As a Certified Life Coach who takes what I do very seriously (along with my Network Marketing business), the thought occurred to me this morning that professional development is something that is very important to me.  Now clearly as a Network Marketer, it isn’t essential to study to become a Life Coach – that was just something I have always wanted to do because let’s face it – we coach our team members in one way or another don’t we?  I did to become a professional, to improve my credibility, increase my integrity and make my honesty very transparent.  It was both a personal and professional decision.  I’m currently undergoing Mentor Training with an ICF Faculty Member and Board Certified Coach and this morning we were discussing my pathway into becoming an International Coaching Federation Associate Certified Coach.  To me in the space of Network Marketing which historically and still to this present day has so much stigma attached to it (and rightly so), I want to be the line in the sand and make a stand for ethics and professionalism because I strongly believe it is missing in our industry.  Sadly we are not regulated and when there is the possibility for high monetary rewards, it is always going to attract the unscrupulous operators.  So I made the decision to return to study and become properly Certified, which I did.  However, I also decided to become accredited and professionally affiliated with an internationally recognized body so that if anyone at anytime is dissatisfied with me professionally, they have somewhere objective to hear their complaint.  My clients are 100% protected at all times.  Now I’m not writing all of this to justify to you why I continue on with my professional development, I am telling you this as a kind of back story.  What I do want to share with you is what I have and am still learning about the differences between learning versus studying.  You see, I absolutely LOVE learning.  I love learning new ideas, new strategies, discovering new tools to make my business and life easier.  To me, who wouldn’t?  I would far prefer to sit down and read a blog article, a book, listen to an audio, engage in a training program or mastermind (which I am 100% of the time – ask me at anytime and I will tell you what I’m currently enrolled in).  To me, you’re either learning or you’re dying.  The world we now live in is changing at a faster rate than ever before, so if you are not keeping up with those changes, then you are being left behind.  Retirement homes aren’t full because they are filled with people with physical ailments, it’s mainly because they have made a conscious decision to stop in their own minds.  On the downside, however, I absolutely detest studying.  To me, studying is something that I have to do, learning is something I choose to want to know about.  I’m continuing my Life Coaching professional Diploma journey purely because I want to learn more.  I want to learn new skills, freshen up what I already know, learn new ideas and strategies and tools that I didn’t learn two years ago when I was last studying.  To me studying is just rote – memorizing a whole bunch of stuff that I will probably never utilize and having to do those God forsaken exams.  I know that sounds overly simplistic, but to me it really is.  When you have a love of learning, you will go far.  You’ll be ahead of the game.  Studying to me is a waste of time.  But ultimately, it’s all a state of mind.  I could tell people I’m studying like I’m getting my Doctorate in something, blah, blah, blah.  Or I could choose to tell people I’m learning new Life Coaching skills that will benefit others.  So if you are currently studying and hating every minute of it, perhaps it’s time to stop and take stock.  What are you actually learning?  Is it something you want to be learning and how will you apply it once you have that piece of paper in your hands?  This could quite literally save you thousands of dollars.  It’s all in your attitude and language.  Hope this has helped you gain greater clarity on your purpose.

 

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