Last week we looked at a quote by Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones about the two ways our lives cahnge and I provided you with a recommended reading list as well as some suggestions on blogs and training conferences.
Building on that theme author and trainer Brendan Burchard says, “Your will change as a result of one of two things: Something new comes into your life, or something new comes into you.”
If you read those books and blogs I recommended, and attend one or two quality conferences a year or take some courses through your local university or college, or an on-line course that will take care of “something new comes into you”. Now, what is the something new that comes out of you?
You can read all the books in the world, but if you never apply what you have learned nothing will change. If you read Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds but keep using crappy powerpoint with too much text, too many graphics, poor quality images and fancy shit flying in and out of your slides then nothing changed.
You need to implement new ideas. You do not need to change your entire program at one time but you need to start changing as a result of what you learn. Incorporate one interactive activity in what was otherwise a straight lecture presentation. Change one powerpoint presentation at a time. Incorporate one imagery component each week of training (Performance Enhancement Imagery is something we teach on the Excellence in Training Course). Change the way you use one video in your course so it is more effective in programming officers for success. Implement one new drill each week in your control tactics class.
Think of the amazing transformation to your training if you just implemented one new instructional technique or tactic every month for a year. What if you implemented one new instructional technique or tactic every week?
Something new coming into you is the start. The next step is for something new to come out of you.
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Brian Willis