ALWAYS RUSHING AND NEVER HAVE TIME TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW?

Learning new skills can be extremely difficult for many of us. We never feel like we have the time. How after we eat, sleep, work, run errands, take the kids to their many functions are we supposed to find time for learning?

I had this same dilemma. I was working in an unsatisfying Sales Manager job. Sales was never my dream nor my passion. I was doing it because it paid good money and I needed to support my family.

I felt very stuck. I didn’t like where I was at but seemingly didn’t have the ability to get out of it. And then it hit me. I found this nearly magical slice of underutilised time. I had always known it was there, but I never had considered it. It happened nearly every day…

Travel time.

I’m always travelling somewhere; commuting to and from work, running errands, biking, walking, etc. When I did the maths, it equated to over 10 hours per week!

I thought to myself, instead of wasting my travel time, I could be learning. I could use it to gain new skills, insights, and perspectives I never would have known about otherwise. I could grow professionally and personally without having to take more time away from my family, friends, and hobbies. I always had my phone and earbuds anyways, so I figured, why not put them to use?

So I signed up for Audible’s free 30-day trial, downloaded their app, and took the plunge into the audiobook world.

Audible was simple to install, made it easy to find the audiobooks, and had amazing clear quality audio. In fact, I was really surprised to hear so many books actually read by the book authors. This helped to give insight and emphasis that even reading the book wouldn’t provide.

So, listen to audiobooks I did. I listened to books related to business analysis and business analytics. I dove into the world of agile and user stories. I learned about communication, negotiation, and problem-solving. I listened to so many books and I learned so many new skills and techniques, by simply taking advantage of the time that I had been squandering earlier.

And it wasn’t long after, I had the opportunity to utilize my newly learned skills and landed my dream Business Analyst job. I tribute a good part of landing that first job and my early success working as a Business Analyst to what I learned in those books.

The insights. The inspiration. The motivation.

So, if you are feeling like I was, (stuck and too busy) there is still hope. You can still reach your dreams.