Not to long ago I signed up for a 9 week course that a friend of mine was putting on. I had all the best intentions to download the course and follow along…but I didn’t. Over the weekend I finally finished downloading all the materials …and…then nothing. I got sidetracked again.

I realized this wasn’t the first time for me. I did the same thing with Mark Joyner’s Simpleology. I also never finished listening to all the CDs from Nido Quebin (they got kind of boring so that’s my story on that one.) And I’m sure there are a few more somewhere that got started and never finished. And its not like this is a $25 book I buy from Barnes & Nobles on a whim that never gets read. These programs can be quite a chunk of change!

And then it occurred to me.

This is what happens to 90% of people who invest in some kind of self-study or virtual learning. We invest with all the right intentions but then we get busy with life and forget to follow through. 17 binders of information products later, they sit, stacked on a shelf or in boxes in a corner of our office, waiting for that day when we actually have time to do something with it.

The funniest story I ever heard was from a woman who had invested in my Virtual Team Building program. She was feeling “buyers remorse” with yet another purchase. She explained that she had invested in over $20k worth of programs in the last 2 years and recently just put them all on ebay and sold them. After helping her see some ways to break that pattern by actually implementing our program…she agreed not to put mine on ebay. =-)

Why do people invest in programs they never use? What is this compulsion we have to learn more stuff? What keeps people from following through on their commitments in an online program?

What I realized is that most self study type programs are not designed to keep people engaged. When you consider the avalanche of emails that we receive daily to the constant fires that we encounter that must be handled immediately, spending time on a self guided program tends to fall by the way side.

So what can you do as a participant to keep yourself engaged so you actually get a good return on your investment? Here are 4 insights I discovered by running my own experiment:

1. Get reconnected to the why. Why did you originally invest in it? What was the problem you wanted solved? I’m sure that didn’t go away magically.
2. Create a schedule to complete the program. If you paid $10k for an MBA would you not go to class? Well, if you went to San Diego State you might not but that’s not the point. Treat it like a class you have to attend live every week in order to “pass” and you’ll create a stronger connection to completing it.
3. Set up accountability. Too often the program shows up in the mail but there is no guidance or support for it. Get a business or success coach to hold you accountable or get a buddy to support you with weekly commitments. One of the ways we support our clients is we include a membership in our coaching community so they can get access to live support.
4. Delegate it. Just because you bought it doesn’t mean you have to learn it. I’ve given members of my team different programs that I want them to learn. If they are responsible for the strategy they might as well benefit from your investment too.

The most important thing is to not let too much time go by. The more time that passes the less painful the cost of not completing it. Its too easy to forget that you wasted that money. MAs the Nike commerical says, “Just do it!” Get going. Take yourself to coffee for an hour and just start the program. You’ll be glad you did later.

It is a Monday at 8:15 am and I’m half way through my workout. My personal fitness coach, Matt, is kicking my butt (again.) I’ve just stepped onto a machine that I hate — it’s a pull up machine. Matt is standing next to me saying, “Come on, you can do it. Breathe Melanie, breathe!” Every time Matt putts this machine in my workout I grumble because it is hard, uncomfortable and totally infuriating.

But as I laid down on the mat for another round of abdominal crunches, it dawned on me…my coaches are the reason I accomplish such huge results in my life. I have a coach for my mind and a coach for my body. Both of them challenge me to do and be more than I ever would for myself.

Today, Matt gave me a reward. We did my measurements and body fat. In the last 30 days I’ve lost 2 lbs of body fat and gone down more than an inch in my waist (that’s good progress for me!)

I was ecstatic and pumped so I jumped on the elliptical machine for another 20 minutes of cardio. When we feel like we are accomplishing results, we naturally want to do more!

Why am I telling you this?

Because this is why successful people hire coaches. Coaches challenge you to do more, work harder and accomplish greater results than you ever could on your own.Now, I’m not someone who likes to work out but the benefits are tremendous. Left to my own devices, I may muster up the stamina for a 15 minute walk around my neighborhood. With my fitness coach, I have accountability, focus and the drive I need to truly accomplish my desired results. With my personal coach, I work on blind spots, challenges and obstacles that I might just as soon not address.

The combined results — I have more energy and stamina. I am focused and clear on my high payoff activities. I accomplish major results in my life and my business.

On the days I don’t want to exercise are the days I’m most grateful for my fitness coach. These are the days I really don’t feel like doing what is best for my body. I’d rather cozy up to my computer and just work my buns off all day. But when you have accountability to someone else, you show up, you do the work, and you reap the rewards!

I’ve also noticed that I will accomplish more with my coach’s challenge than I would do on my own. It’s quite easy to fall into a comfort trap — doing just enough to get by. But with my coach challenging me to do a few extra repetitions and pile on another 5 lbs, I catapult my results forward.

One more thing. There have been months that I felt like I couldn’t afford my fitness coach (I also have a personal coach too.) In the beginning it was a HUGE stretch to commit to a big monthly “expense.” I realized that successful people hire coaches to challenge them to accomplish more. It is not an expense — it is an investment in my health, sanity and desired results. Without my coaches, I would not be able to perform at the top of my game consistently.

How about you? Do you have a coach that challenges you to achieve more? Share it in the comments.

Do you need a coach? Maybe one of our coaches will be a good fit for you. Visit www.successconnections.com for an overview of our coaching programs.