Applying Knowledge From Training

This past weekend I spent at a training. It is unlike anything I have ever done before. The training was with 3 of 7 Project in North Georgia. Now, you could call it leadership training. It definitely wasn’t a conference. At least not one where you sit in a nice ballroom and listen to a bunch of speakers. It wasn’t any of that.

What it was, was an immersive experience with some really great people. The explanation of what we went through and what we did wouldn’t do it justice. Because while I can explain what we did and the actions I took, you have to experience it to get the full benefit.

This is what I want to talk about today is experience. Now, I am a big proponent of thinking. Of reading and listening to experts in their field. To combine the knowledge that you get from all of these locations into something you can execute.

Because the real knowledge comes down to actually putting things into place. This weekend taught me a lot of things. A lot of actionable criteria. Most importantly, it taught me that going and doing is far more impactful than anything you’ll ever be able to read or watch.

Doing and the experience that is imprinted upon you is where the magic lies. Then get put into different situations and figure out how to utilize skills taught in one area and apply them in another. This weekend was full of those types of experiences.

It also taught me that I need to be able to see past what I’m being told. What’s the underlying problem? How can I solve it? What does this actually mean to me?

Reading something in a book, hearing about it in a seminar or conference, or watching a YouTube video is all well and good, but the application of it is so much more important. The specific application to the exact thing that you are doing is where it turns to gold.

Having the information, but not knowing how to apply it is where most things break down. For example, if you learned a way to communicate. Could be a style, or learning of a new platform, but never actually utilizing it, then not learning it would have been just as effective. The effectiveness is equal in knowing, but not applying and not knowing.

There is a saying by Earl Nightingale – To know and not apply, is not to know.

The challenge is to find things in your life that you know, but aren’t applying. This takes deliberate thought. It takes having the situational awareness to notice areas you aren’t applying things you know in and it takes a will and determination to actually do something about it.

In the coming days and weeks, I’ll be sharing more about my experience here and the lessons I learned as I put together actionable lessons that you can take with you and apply in your own life. Because without application, the knowledge is useless.