The top question asked by delegates who attend the training sessions that I facilitate is, “How will I make the training stick and avoid going back to the same bad habits?”
It’s a vital and not uncommon question. After all, receiving the new information is only part of the journey. Understanding how to embed these learnings and achieve behavioural change after the excitement has run its course is where the real works begins.
To that end, here are my proverbial two cents about what you can do to work past the ‘learning phase’ and ensure that your new habits become your consistent reality.
It’s A Matter Of Time
According to Malcolm Gladwell, in order to become an expert at something, one must practice it for 10,000 hours. While this may be debatable (there are too many theories and not enough time), there’s simply no denying the fact that regular practice of anything at all improves one’s performance.
To my mind, forming a new habit then becomes a matter of time.
To have a better handle on what you have been taught, you must take the time to practice it. Hand in hand with practice, though, goes repetition. Essentially, you also need to remember to make the time to repeat what you’ve learnt.
This is hardly groundbreaking. I mean, there are literally hundreds of study tips advising pupils to keep returning to the same training material in order to reinforce what they have previously learned. There’s even some research showing that more than re-reading the same material, allowing the instructor to provide personal reminders of the information will solidify what you have learnt and help you actualise any new changes that you so desperately want to make.
Ultimately, your focus should be on carving out the time it takes to form a new habit, reinforce the learnings you’ve experience, and see this change come to pass in your life.
There’s Already A Reality In Place
In the beginning it is really difficult to take something that you’ve learnt and make it a habit. Mostly, this is because it is foreign and, admittedly, it feels terrible. Consider any exercise routine that you take up. In the beginning, it is the worst of times because in spite of the happy-making endorphins and strengthening of your body and mental health, you already have a routine that you’re comfortable with.
You’re working against a reality or routine that’s already there. It fills space in your mind and has reflexive qualities.
So, even though you really want to change and, for the sake of the metaphor, move your body more or build bigger muscles, you may find yourself sleeping in or going to the drive-thru instead of the gym.
Nudges Everyday For A Month
The answer for anybody who wants to continue building a new habit and make a change is to set reminders that will surely break those automatic processes.
At Red Door Training, we aim to equip you and your business. Part of this lies in the excellent training material used, the other part involves providing support that actively helps people get past the learning phase.
We do this through a personalised reminder campaign. Scheduled for a period of 3 weeks or 66 days, this strategy will help build your new habits into your subconscious and become your new reality.
If you’ve got a serious case of the “That was amazing now what?” and you want to make sure that you don’t lose momentum then sign up for our monthly nudges.