Stop wasting your money on training !

How many times have you spent time and money on training only to find out that you never actually put those ideas into practice consistently? There might be a short burst of enthusiastic application but generally those ideas either stay locked up in the notes you take or at best only effectively last a relatively short time.

Training is not designed to improve performance, but only to teach. As with any knowledge or skill, knowing what to do and being able to do it, does not automatically mean that the knowledge and skill will be used. The “knowing – doing gap” is legendary, and books have been written about it.

The problem is that our mind always tends to return to our default position, the one that feels comfortable. This default position is the result of our subconscious mind (our beliefs, thoughts, habits, emotions, values), driving our behaviour. “What you hold in your subconscious mind, will become your reality.”

Thanks to the lastest findings in neuroscience, we know now that our brain is ‘plastic’, meaning that we can change and learn everything, we only have to ‘rewire’ our brain. In reality, this means that we have to practice every day to learn new skills or to change our beliefs or attitudes. After a while, our brain will embrace this and it will become a natural part of our daily behaviour.

Therefore, a combination of training (knowing what and how to do something) and individual coaching (practice) over a period of time is the only approach that works and lasts. Coaching works on 3 levels:

1. It bridges the knowing – doing gap by giving people the insight on why they should change and the continuous motivation to do it.
2. It facilitates a continuous effort by helping them focus over a period of time.
3. It helps people reflect on their mistakes until the desired state has been reached.

Acquiring new skills, habits, beliefs, etc. is therefore the result of a continuous effort.