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Today we are going to talk all about the new Issue of Rank & File Magazine’s theme and what lessons are in store for you in this series + we’ll go into detail about how to avoid content overload as you learning new skills for your business.
About Rank & File Magazine Issue #14’s Learning Theme
The Fourteenth issue of Rank & File is a discussion on the power of the “soft skills” in business. More specifically, how our inner dialogue and our outer communication skills affect our business outcomes and bottom lines.
Over the next 90 days, we’ll gain expert insights from business coaches and authors on specific steps you can take to grow in this area, and we’ll hear from fellow entrepreneurs who shifted their mindsets and stepped into new levels of authenticity and visibility to radically alter the course of their companies.
If you are ready to get rock solid results in your business, and you know that the “soft stuff” might be holding you back — then this series, as we dive into Issue Fourteen of Rank & File will be the perfect resource for you.
AVOIDING CONTENT OVERLOAD
One of the biggest issues with podcasts, magazines and other forms of media based content for entrepreneurs is content overload. You know what I am talking about right? It’s when you listen to multiple podcast episodes per week on a wide range of topics and you don’t actually take the time to apply any of it.
When we binge learn like this — our time invested in learning new skills for our business actually just becomes entertainment.
I don’t want Rank & File to be just entertainment for you. Yes, of course, this place is full of inspiration and interesting dialogue around what it takes to be successful as a purpose-driven entrepreneur, but it’s also meant to bring you rock-solid results. And this series is no exception.
So I want you to take on new learning practices for yourself so that you can stop binge consuming business content and put your CEO hat on to really create results with your learning time.
Learn to Learn Like a CEO:
Reduce the amount of content you consume:
Reducing the amount of content might seem like a strange thing for the editor of a magazine and a podcast host to tell you. But as a business growth strategist for entrepreneurs inside Rank & File’s Founders Studio, I know that when we pile on too many podcasts, we just don’t get any results.
In fact, my commitment to your results is the reason why Rank & File magazine is published only four times per year and why we spend 90 days on one learning theme at a time.
To get the most out of what you consume for your business, I want you to categorize your podcast time into two main buckets:
– Bucket #1: CEO Learning
– Bucket #2: Inspirational Learning
How to Get the Most out of CEO Learning Time:
CEO Learning Time is when you strategically dive into content related to an area of your business that you truly want to improve on. This could be something that you already know is an important part of your strategy. The important thing is that you apply the knowledge as you are learning it. So, a best practice is carving out time each week to for listening or watching, and then carving out additional time following that to integrate what you’ve learned into your business.
How to Get the Most out of Inspirational Learning Time:
Inspirational content for your business are those shows that you just love listening to that inspire you, motivate you, and fire you up to really go for it in your business. There is nothing wrong with consuming this type of entertainment content. In fact, your mental and emotional inspiration is one of the biggest assets you have as a CEO because it helps you to stay energized and full of momentum.
The important thing about inspirational time is that you are aware that consuming larger quantities of motivational entertainment will bring you “soft skills” (like an elevated and more knowledgeable mindset) and not “hard skills” (more detailed skill areas that require deeper learning).
How much is too much?
For CEO Learning, I always suggest picking one overarching theme for your business to work on a time. You will really want to dive deep into all the facets of this area so that you can apply what you are learning to your strategy and stick with it until you see results. This can take one month or several months.
For Inspirational Learning, it’s completely up to you. But make sure that you are not spending your main working hours consuming inspirational content, it’s better to slot this into your morning routine, your lunch break or after work hours.
What kind of learning will this series be?
We are about to embark on a great series where we will continue to talk all about soft skills in our business. It’s going to be full inspiration, as you can always expect with Rank & File, but we are going to take soft skills topics — like mindset and communication skills and show the practical steps needed to create a rock solid business results with them. So you can expect both CEO and Inspirational Learning with this series.
MY CHALLENGE TO YOU TODAY:
Challenge #1:
To get the most out of this series, I want you to think through the following question this week: What soft skills are you lacking as a CEO? I want you to get really clear on what sneaky things that might be holding you back from success. These can be both internal and external, for example:
Are you being held back by poor mindsets, bad time management, a lack of focus, no confidence to be visible, or second-guessing your strategies all the time? Or maybe, your communication skills for your business are affecting your sales and marketing strategies and you don’t have a compelling brand story or message to showcase your company?
Getting super clear on what’s holding you back and what you need to shift will help you to set up that intentional CEO learning time for your business over the next 90-days.
Challenge #2:
I want you to carve out time for you to dive into this series. I would suggest carving out 1 to 2 hours each week so that you can watch the show on Rank & File’s blog or listen on the podcast and then spend time writing notes and planning out action steps following each episode. This way, you make sure that you are truly using this time as CEO learning time and not just inspirational time for your business.
I am so excited to join you for this incredible series! We are going to gain so much knowledge to elevate your soft skills so that you can gain new rock-solid results in your business — achieving more social impact, financial sustainability, and personal fulfillment at the same time.
