"It’s not you, it’s me. I’ve bought so many courses and educational resources over the past year… I need to stop learning and start taking action. I’ll come back once I’ve made some progress."
This is one of the most common things we hear in exit surveys when our customers cancel their Fizzle membership. The principle behind these responses is quite sound — in order to build a business that supports your family, you have to balance learning and action.
You’ll never be able to stop learning entirely, but you also cannot focus exclusively on learning. This brings up an important question: when should learning stop and action begin? And what’s the relation between the two?
Why we love learning so much
Before we get into the answer to that question, let’s talk about the reality of why we spend so much time “learning” when we know action is more important. There are two main reasons we torture ourselves with the endless pursuit of knowledge without ever making any real progress:
#1: Fear
Snapchat! Convertkit! SumoMe! Periscope! Blogging is dead!
Check your Twitter feed, your blog subscriptions, or the latest cover of your favorite entrepreneurial magazine and you’ll see a definitive proclamation from an expert: “_______________ is the next big thing! Get on it or you’ll miss the boat.”
Trigger the cortisol and fight or flight response built into our animal nature.
“Ah %&#$! Did I miss the boat? What if I don’t act on this RIGHT NOW and everything I’ve worked so hard for comes crumbling down around me? What if my business fails and I end up poor? What if I can’t buy food for my family? What if we have to live in a cardboard box?”
“I better get on Snapchat, I don’t want to live in a cardboard box.”
When Gary V (Hi Gary, we’re big fans!) says you should use Snapchat to grow your business, remember one thing: Gary doesn’t know anything about your business. His advice is completely out of context. It has no relation to your business or personal goals.
In other words, a thought leader makes her living by living on the edge of her field. Her job is to find what’s new, learn everything there is to know, test it, and then share what she knows about a new idea/platform/thing.
Instead of letting thought leaders drive your priorities, your job is to remember to stay focused on your business goals and seek out the advice of thought leaders in the context of those goals. More on that later.
#2: Productivity
There is nothing in business quite so intoxicating as a guaranteed way to check something off your to-do list today. Learning plays into our built-in desire to feel “productive.”
A one-hour video is a one-hour video. It will take you exactly 60 minutes to complete the task (or less if you watch it on 2x speed!). You are guaranteed to finish a thing on your to-do list if you sit in your chair for an hour. Winning!
What we don’t take into account is the opportunity cost of or mental tax from learning productivity. What else could you have achieved in that same hour? What happens if what you learn isn’t immediately actionable, but is now on your mind constantly?
For example, if you take a course on web design, but you don’t have a business idea yet, you might be tempted to start building a website. But what if the best next action you can take is to test a number of business ideas? You’ve just thrown your progress off track.
Learning might make you feel good today, but if it doesn’t help you move forward in your business, then is it really as helpful as it seems?
The Solution: Just in Time Learning
Let’s be clear: learning itself is not bad. It’s wonderful. It’s the key to unlocking new ideas and making progress. But learning for learning’s sake when you’re trying to get a business off the ground is, at best, a good way to delay progress and, at worst, fatal (for your business).
In other words, learning new skills and concepts should be one of many tools you use to succeed as an entrepreneur. You should never stop learning, but you should always use learning as a part of the process of getting things done.
We call this: just in time learning.
“Just in time learning: the best way to learn when you’re starting a business”
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How to Use Learning as a Tool for Business Progress
Learning can and should be an incredible tool for making progress in your business. Let’s make sure it stays that way. Here’s how:
Focus on what’s in front of you, right now
First things first: you have to know where you stand in your business right now.
For starters: what phase of the Fizzle Roadmap are you in?
- Phase I: I’m an aspiring entrepreneur still looking for a business idea
- Phase II: I’ve launched my business and I’m working my way up to minimum viable income
- Phase III: I’m making a minimum viable income and I’m focused on growing my business
Each of these Phases has specific stages, which break the process of building a business down into actionable steps. Knowing exactly where you are on the path to building a business helps you set actionable goals.
Set a goal
Once you know where you are, you need to have a goal for where you want to go next.
For example, if you’re in Stage 5: Audience, your goal might be to grow your audience to 1,000 email subscribers within the next 6 months. Only then will you give yourself permission to build a product.
Alternatively, if you were in Stage 7: Money, your goal might be to define your minimum viable income… or earn your minimum viable income for three months in a row.
A goal is great, but it can still be big and scary. After all, if I have zero email subscribers today, how exactly am I supposed to find 1,000 in the next six months?
Unpack the goal
Unpacking the goal is how we decide what projects we might need to execute on to reach that goal.
In other words, a goal is an outcome, which is out of our control. Projects, however, are completely within our control. You can use this project planning process and the CEO vs Worker Bee method to define your projects and the steps to complete each project.
Unpacking the goal gives you actionable steps to take to make progress. Only then can you really understand what you need to learn in order to move forward in your business.
Do you need to learn anything new?
As you look at your project steps, you should immediately understand which ones you know how to execute on and which ones you don’t
This is the key to just in time learning. Only once you’ve defined a goal, picked your projects and determined the steps for each project can you really understand whether you need to learn.
Here’s a simple step you can take to put learning in it’s place: for each project step that you know you’ll need to learn something new, split the step into two parts.
In part a) add what you will need to learn. In part b) add the actionable step.
Here’s an example that incorporates everything so far:
Goal: Gain 1,000 Email Subscribers
Project: Setup email marketing account
1. Select email marketing provider
2. Sign up for email marketing account
3. Create email form
4. Install email form on my website
Then, for a given step that requires learning, it might look like this:
1a) Research the top five email marketing providers for ecommerce entrepreneurs
1b) Select email marketing provider
Learn to help you reach your goal, not the other way around
All that’s left at this point is to execute. That sounds easy, but this is actually the hardest part.
Your job is to stop paying attention to all of the advice from all of the experts and thought leaders and gurus and to focus on your business goals.
Your business learning from here on out should always be in the context of your business goals and projects. If you want to take this super seriously, you might consider:
- Unsubscribe from email lists
- Cut your podcast listening back to a small number of shows that inspire you rather than teach you new stuff
- Delete your course playlists on your favorite education sites
- Trust the Fizzle Roadmap to give you the learning you need, when you need it (but only if you want to)
Any learning that’s not on your project lists should be categorized as learning for pleasure or inspiration.
If you decide to learn for pleasure, that’s great. But don’t do it at the expense of your productive time. When you’re an early stage entrepreneur juggling a day job, a family, and a side hustle, every minute of effort counts.
“Remember: just-in-case learning is for wasting time. Just-in-time learning is for making progress. ”
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Learn how to set goals that actually stick!
The Top 10 Mistakes in Online Business
Every week we talk with entrepreneurs. We talk about what’s working and what isn’t. We talk about successes and failures. We spend time with complete newbies, seasoned veterans, and everything in between.
One topic that comes up over and over again with both groups is mistakes made in starting businesses. Newbies love to learn about mistakes so they can avoid them. Veterans love to talk about what they wish they had known when starting out.
These conversations have been fascinating, so we compiled a list of the 10 mistakes we hear most often into a nifty lil' guide. Get the 10 Most Common Mistakes in Starting an Online Business here »
Very accurate, inspiring and motivational. Thank you.
Barrett – Fantastic post! I’ve been struggling with this myself lately. Consuming a bit more of the #AskGaryVeeShow than I care to admit, haha.
This post really spoke to me and gave me clarity on my own situation. It’s like you put into words what I couldn’t. I appreciate you wrote it and love all the work you guys are doing with Fizzle!
Thanks a lot!
This is absolutely must read for anyone side hustling and probably any ever. If you want to accomplish anything dream-worthy, just-in-time learning mixed with lots of doing is non-negotiable. B Brooks with the Knowledge Bomb on this one.
Right On. I have weeded out “productivity crutch” learning over the years. However, I still struggle with fear based learning, although in two slightly different forms.
#1 Analysis Paralysis – For the learning cycle of 1a) Research 2) Decision:
I’d do 1a), find conflicting information or not feel confident enough to do 1b). Therefore, return to 1a) for more research. An infinite loop.
Solution: Set a decision deadline before conducting any research. When the time comes, make the “best guess” and dive in.
#2 The Rabbit Hole – A current example:
I’m in need of a new membership plugin. Enter the research stage, and I begin looking into WooCommerce..
– While the plugin is “free”, it looks like I need a paid extension for every little thing. Yikes! Oh, Treehouse has a couple WooCommerce courses. I’ll take those to see it in action.
– Course 1, this actually looks pretty good! Let’s look at course 2 to make sure this will work for me.
– Course 2, “This course is heavy on actions and filters, so you may need to review our course on WP Hooks before proceeding…”
– Enter WP Hooks course, “While you can take this course as an overview, you may need to brush up on your PHP to fully understand…” Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…
Solution: Just try the damn thing. While change can be painful, nothing is permanent.
I hear ya, Aaron. These are real challenges. Hopefully you can find a good balance over time. I’d say much of the Rabbit Hole example is learning that is helpful AFTER you’ve made a decision to move forward. Once you’ve made the decision, all of that stuff is helpful for actually implementing your choice.
Argh, Barrett – it’s like you were in my head reading my thoughts and struggles. Great post – just-in-time learning is something I find I need to keep coming back to.
I seem to have good seasons and then somehow I get caught in the learning ‘just incase’ cycle and have come back to the ‘just in time’ approach.
Thanks for the reminder.
Hope it helps!
Thanks Barrett – especially like your point on cutting podcasts (or anything for that matter) to ones that inspire and not teach something new. Big difference.
Big cull just happened…
I think this is the push I need, to pull the trigger on some things. I often reflect on my actions and I was thinking to myself that I’ve downloaded a lot of free e-books, joined a bunch of email lists, and listened to a lot of podcasts. They’ve all been helpful… when I actually use them.
But the reality is that taking the time to indulge in those learning activities, especially when what I’m learning is not immediately useful, just takes time from me actually doing the work to get my business off the ground.
I’ve known it for a while, but I guess I have that shiny object syndrome. I don’t want to miss something. But I know and can look at my track record and see that, not wanting to miss something, has caused me to miss the most important thing of all…. my thing, my business, my dream.
So, I think it’s time to disconnect from the majority of my “learning sources” and actually work on my business.
Thanks for this one Barrett
Love it, Aaron. Let us know how it goes :)
Yes! This is fantastic advice, and much needed (dare I say, just-in-time advice? prob should have deleted this joke…) I’m a perpetual learner, probably a combination of the love of learning and the fear of taking steps. What a great way to incorporate both, learning and action, and actually move forward! Thank you Fizzle team! Yet another great piece of useful advice :)
Glad you found it helpful, Dominique!
Guilty! Too much input, not enough output. Gotta get it done!
Go for it!
Same here, there’s only input and no output. However, it is time for me to show what all this learning has really meant to me and make some significant change.
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Really great advice, Barrett.
I love listening to podcasts on my way to and from work, but over time I’ve become increasingly selective about which ones I allow myself to listen to (which, in the business realm, are just the ones that inspire and motivate).
There are only so many ideas I can act on in a given time frame, and too many leads to overwhelm. This article should be early reading for every solopreneur (and more relevant for today’s world than its ever been).
I think you need both. It’s more antifragile. Your strategy only works if you already know what you need to know, which is not necessarily the case in our complex world. In a chaotic environment you need antifragile strategies. So you need both a specific and a generic approach. There’s a reason why it’s called “just in case”, because if the case arises, it will be advantageous for you to know it!
So do both: just allocate time for learning things you just happen to be interested in. And allocate time for learning the things you need to learn to exectue the next step.
It’s a barbell strategy. Just like when investing in an antifragile way you invest mostly on safe assets, and only a part on wild speculations.
Sounds like you’ve been doing some Nassim Taleb reading!
You’re right, of course. And also, sometimes there is a true choice to make between learning and doing (like when you’re just starting a business while maintaining a full-time job and a relationship to your spouse and young children )… and in those situations anti fragile learning leads to staying stuck in the same situation you’ve been stuck in for some time.
So yes, in a perfect world everyone would have time to both learn for pleasure and learn to be able to accomplish the task at hand. But just like economic theory, it often works better in theory than in practice.
Wow.
I couldn’t agree more. In the past, I’ve been caught in the death trap of learning “just to learn” and rarely did I implement what I learned.
In the past 3 months I’ve been following this same approach and I get way more done, I learn faster and I retain more. Who knew?
Here’s something I realize from past experience. The year is going to go by anyway whether you decide to do anything about the shiny object syndrome (SOS) or not. We are already 2/12 into 2016 and you don’t have to take anybody’s word for it as to whether you are being productive or not. The numbers don’t lie.
There was really nothing new in this post that I was not already aware of (thanks for the reminder just the same) but being aware is not enough. Now that I know what to do, what’s going to get me to do what I know? That’s the real question and where the rubber meets the road.
All this post represents is a break in a stream of consciousness for the length of time you’re reading it and then most of you will go back to doing what you’ve always done. How do I know this? Because I am one of you. My results have been dismal and if you’re like me yours have been too.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I have been a complete idiot. I don’t say this to beat up on myself because that doesn’t do me any good. I say that to acknowledge that I’m not hear to try and impress anyone. Like Seth Godin says – Go Make Something Happen. He also says that most of us get bogged down in doing all of this stuff that doesn’t matter because we’re hiding.
Yesterday, after I read this post I unsubscribed to at least 10 email lists. Today I subscribed to 10-15 more. I still have some work to do. My criteria for unsubscribing from the lists were fairly simple.
If the list I was on were pitching me something new every other day and not providing me with any value I zapped them. Unfortunately, there are not too few people that still provide any real value to their lists. Fizzle is one of them that does.
It has felt so freeing to be able to unsubscribe. It’s far too much too carry when you take a look at it especially when you don’t have too.
So I’ve adopted a phrase (feel free to use it if you wish). If what I’m doing, reading, watching, listening to doesn’t make the boat go faster then it has to go. You can tell how mature you are becoming to the degree can are able to say “no” to most “opportunities” that are presented to you.
I’ve had to learn to stay in my own lane and stop comparing myself to others. I’ve had to learn how to take care of the task at hand and learn what I need (JIT Learning) when I need it. I’ve to learn how to play the long game. I’ve had to learn that there is no magic pill and if there was that I probably shouldn’t take it.
Sometimes I feel like I’m back in grade school and the girls keep telling me how handsome I am which does nothing but lead me astray.
It’s not going to stop. It’s not going to get better. Most marketers do not care about you or your family. Most of them only care about selling you more stuff. They don’t care whether you do anything with the stuff that they sell you or not.
I was on this one list for lest than a month and this guy pitched me on 3 of his products and 1 of another marketer. The real problem comes when you start to be daisy chained onto all of these emails lists.
Sometimes I get emails from people and I have no freakin Idea who they are. I have thousands of dollars worth of info products sitting on my hard drive. I have so many folders it would make you dizzy just looking at them yet I’m not earning a full-time income from home yet. Go figure. This is insane and has to stop.
I spend tons of hours doing busy work. I do complete most of the courses I buy but before I implement those things I’m off to the next thing.
Yeah, most of the stuff being sold online is mostly crap. There are some quality products of course and if you implement the information that’s being sold in the good courses any of them will work.
It’s really unfortunate that most people put profits before people but that’s the reality that we live in. It’s a cess pool but knowing that you must guard against it.
I took this post to heart and it’s not just another feel good post for me to read. March 2016 is going to be a banner month for me. I’ll report back how much my business changed by implement the wisdom articulated in this post. I’m putting a reminder in Evernote today to come back in 90 days and let you know what changed for.
Thank you Fizzle.co
This is awesome, Rick. Please do let us know what kind of progress you make. You can correspond with me directly by emailing [email protected] when you’re ready to report back. Steph will send it along to me.
Excited to see what comes next for you!
Hi Barrett. Love the podcast and love your insights. Thanks and looking forward to hearing more from you! :)
Thanks Mark!
@fizzle-7e7757b1e12abcb736ab9a754ffb617a:disqus dig it!
Also note… Gary is an investor in Snap & has a team of over 500+ people backing him. ;)
Keep crushing it
~ Kyle {CEO} Chief Experiment Officer
digitalconversionlabs.com
He’s doing a good job of sending users their way ;).
This is a great article Barrett. I’m so guilty of learning “just in case”. I suspect it’s because A) many of us like learning, and B) no one talks about the potential negative effects – such as opportunity cost & procrastination – of learning “just in case”.
I’ve been sensing this for a a while, as I glance at the handful of “must read” PDF tutorials that lay unopened on my desktop. Thanks for stating it so clearly.
Wow! Does this resonate or what?!? I had the end of February as my launch date for my landing page. Can you guess where I am? “Learning” about everything but the stage I’m currently at! I’ve now made it a point to use Wunderlist to dump any interesting articles into folders that I will access when I get to that stage of my business. It keeps me focussed but knowing that I’m not encouraging FOMO!
So useful. I let too many things, learning being one of them put me into reactive mode, and halt/slow action. It’s a cycle, and I need a refresh.