This week I want to talk about why so many programs or courses don’t work.

The reason being courses teach you what worked for someone else while assuming it will also work for you. They even tell you as much: “the program works. You just need to follow the steps.” But have you ever purchased one of these programs and found yourself unable to follow the steps?

I know I have.

And it drove me crazy! “Ugh! Why can’t I just do x or y? Am I the problem?”.

If you’ve ever wondered this after going through a program, cohort or even worked with a coach, keep reading.

The problem is following someone else’s game plan

You’re not the problem.

In fact, neither was the course creator. They likely were just sharing the step by step guide that worked for them. So what can you do to actually get the results you crave if following someone else’s game plan hasn’t worked?

You create your own!

Here’s how:

Step 1: Define YOUR Goals

The very firs step is to define what your goals are.

I’m going to recommend you do something you’ve likely done before. It’s called the “Perfect Day” exercise. I went through it again recently and what stood out for me was realizing the things I was working towards were no longer things I wanted… 🤯

You see, I used to see this exercise as a one and done kind of thing, when it’s more of a recalibration exercise you need to be doing at least yearly (or as often as quarterly).

Why? Because I’m no longer the person I was 3, 5, or 10 years ago. My goals have changed. My priorities have changed. The world around me has changed.

So if it’s been more than a year since you last did this exercise (or if you’ve never done it before!), this is your sign to take a couple of minutes this weekend and do it!

*Here’s a video of Brendon Burchard walking you through it.

Step 2: Discover Your Strengths

Think back on a course or program you enrolled in that simply didn’t work for you, while it did work for the course creator –and likely some students.

The reason it worked for them, is because the “game plan” presented, played to their strengths. And when their strengths happen to be the same as yours, it might work for you. But when they’re not the same, it simply won’t work for you, no matter how hard or committed you are to the program.

Which is exactly what kept happening to me.

And while I thought I knew what my strengths were –in terms of skills–, I had not stopped to think about the kind of roles that worked best for me and my skills. And I’ve yet to find a single client who has considered this before.

For some reason we tend to think we just need to “develop” the skills we’re not strong at.

I certainly used to think that. Until I discovered a personality assessment called the Wealth Dynamics. This assessment is what opened my eyes to the idea of building a business that catered to my strengths, and not one that catered to someone else’s.

Which is a great segue into the final step:

Step 3: Execute Your Strengths & Delegate What’s Challenging

When I was starting out, I would do everything myself.

From building the website, to writing the copy, to setting up email automations, everything. And I noticed something strange. I could spend hours in front of my computer writing custom HTML and CSS code for my site (don’t judge me!), but I could not –for the life of me–, send connection requests or commenting on LinkedIn for more than 10 minutes without pulling out my phone, needing to break for coffee, or just getting distracted…

It was infuriating as my strategy required me to engage with potential clients on LinkedIn!

After taking the Wealth Dynamics assessment, I learned I am what they call a Mechanic. It means my strengths lie on building systems and optimizing processes, while creative work is harder for me. Oh, and networking… definitely not my jam.

But the most important concept I learned is there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of the different personalities. The only thing that’s “wrong” is trying to excel at functions that don’t come naturally to me.

And this is what you should do as well.

If you’re good at networking, do the networking and delegate the tech and systems to a Mechanic. If you’re like me, build the systems and delegate customer support. There’s really no benefit to trying to excel what you’re not naturally good at.

There are several sites to take the Wealth Dynamics Test, but I recommend this one 👇🏻 (this is NOT an affiliate link).

geniusu.com

That’s it!

As always, thanks for reading.

If any of this made a lightbulb go off in your head, and you’d like personalized help to break through these steps, just reply to this email letting me know.

See you next Saturday,