What does CPD and Pathe News have in common? read on, and I’ll explain
Firstly get your CPD recording automated. You can download apps to record these or buy a small learning diary to document your learning.
CPD is either structured or unstructured – structured is formal learning such as online courses, workshops. Unstructured is general reading, podcasts and videos that keep you up to date.
For unstructured, you need to choose your mediums and plan to consume them every week/month without fail. Determine your learning style – VARK works here. Visual, auditory, read-write or kino. I’m read-write and audio. So I:
- Read voraciously. My Kindle is full of books; I read one a month on average. My current book are The Sales Coach’s Playbook: Breaking the Performance Code – Bill Bartlett.
- Consume regular magazines offline and online. I read Money Week, The Week and The Economist every week. These are paid-for subscriptions. Monthly I receive Mortgage Strategy, Money Marketing and Building Society Gazette (these are free)
- I subscribe to various newsletters and blogs. My favourites are Seth Godin, Mortgage Introducer, FTAdviser, Mortgage Solutions, The Economist Expresso, Allan Weiss and Graham Jones; I don’t subscribe or read BBC news anymore. I researched this and the BBC news is now 80% opinion of its journalists, and I don’t want to hear Laura’s exasperated tone anymore or constant criticism of the government. If you want to see how news should be broadcasted google “Pathe Newsreels”. This is before the 1990s when news went 24 hours, and they ran out of the stuff, so replaced with opinions and expert reviews.
- I belong to a couple of associations to keep me up to date. They run online meetings and workshops—the Professional Speaking Association, Sales Performance Association, Personal Finance Society.
- Podcasts are a brilliant way of learning and multi-tasking. I listen to mine in the gym and walking solo. I subscribe to Spotify because that’s easy on my phone. I listen to a variety of sales, advising and general updates on Podcasts. There are thousands so be brutal with the ones you will religiously consume. Advanced Selling, Advisers Assemble, Meaningful Money, Sales Gravy, Allan Weiss, Voices of Experience
Remember to invest time each week. I do 3:1:1 – 1 day a week self-development on average. You sell what’s in your brain; you don’t make widgets, so make sure you keep it sharp.
