Even if you are great with technology, there are some serious drawbacks to learning on your own how to use your systems and build your processes.
“A self taught painter is one taught by a very ignorant person.”
Let me explain.
Like you, I started out teaching myself how to use most of the systems I used in my business. I taught myself how to build my first (and second) website, use my CRMs, connect them to each other, set up my payment processor, use the drag and drop interface on my funnel program, and so much more.
And like you I did that in part because I felt like I could handle it if I had to, I was short on cash, and I felt like I had more time than money at the time. (Don’t worry, I have since learned the massive flaw in that logic)
And it got the job done. That is a fact. Without teaching myself how to do these things I do not know if I would have started my first coaching business back in 2005, and I definitely know I wouldn’t be here today.
But just because it worked, doesn’t mean it was smart.
The age old question between working smart or hard, right?
I would definitely say that learning technology yourself, all the platforms and all the things, definitely constitutes working hard.
Unfortunately it also definitely does NOT qualify as working smart.
Let’s talk a bit more about that.
It’s kind of like building a house, or a chicken coop, or a fence on your own.
You may end up with a wood structure that will hold up during a light wind, but your corners won’t match, your shingles will blow off in a big storm, and if you really get hammered by some weather your house may blow down.
But hey, you saved some money and learned how to build a house, right?
“The self taught man seldom knows anything accurately, and he does not know a tenth as much as he could have if he had worked under teachers, and besides, he brags, and is the means of fooling other thoughtless people into going and doing as he himself has done.”
Here is how I have learned to look at it. If I want to build something that will work right now, I can totally do that.
If I want to build something that will work for a little while, I can probably do that.
If I want to build something that will work well for the long haul, that is something I probably couldn’t do when I was self taught.
So I had to determine what my goals were.
Did I want to just get something up and live, embrace the messy, and deal with cleaning it up later?
There was certainly a time in my life when that worked just fine for me.
After a lot of experimentation, successes and failures I have come to realize that it is a much, much more valuable way to spend my time and money to learn to do things right. The first time.
So, how did I do that?
I spent money on training.
A lot of money.
And I spent time on training.
A lot of time.
And I learned the way programs were meant to be used. And I learned how the tools were designed, what their uses are, and what functionalities are built in vs which ones need to be built in from the outside.
I learned how to make sure I am not putting a square peg in a round hole.
“Self taught are those without formal education. Most self taught artists have missing ingredients in their work.”
I learned how to make sure I am not putting a square peg in a round hole.
I discovered that a good 40% of what I was spending my time on was unnecessary. There were easier, faster and native ways to do the things I was trying to do but thought I had to manipulate things into working.
I went through formal training on everything. How to build a website. How to work in a CRM. How to work in project management tools. How to do a launch. How to create a course. How to build a membership site. How to write copy. How to design funnels. How to measure analytics. How to coach people. How to….
Seriously, the list goes on and on. And I didn’t take courses from just anyone. I took them from the heavy hitters.
Dean Graziosi, Tony Robbins, Jesse Itzler, Jeff Walker, Ryan Deiss, Dan Kennedy, Perry Marshall, Julie Stoian, Cathay Olson, Russell Brunson, Marie Forleo, Amy Porterfield, NLP of California…
That list goes on and on too.
I really like being a student. And I really enjoy learning things. And I absolutely enjoy learning how to do things better and more efficiently.
And what I have found is that the education I invested my time and money into has paid more dividends than I could have ever imagined.
I have met the most amazing people. Some of my closest friends, coaches and clients have come from these programs.
I have learned what ultimately ends up being shortcuts but are really just best practices that have saved me hundreds of hours over the years.
I have discovered new ways to use tools, proper execution of strategies I had only partially grasped, and how to make the most out of the money I pay for my tools.
Oh! I almost forgot…I also learned what tools were duplicates of others I already had and I was able to cancel those and save money.
And you wanna know what?
All of that training, all of those hours?
Worth every penny and every second!
Because the value of knowing how to use something properly far outweighs the speed of teaching yourself. And the money saved by doing things right the first time is more than the money spent on the most expensive training.
So, the moral of the story is this…
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. And if you want to, if you really, really want to, take the training and learn how to do it right!
