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As women, we have the tendency to put everyone first before we pay attention to ourselves - children, spouses, family, friends, acquaintances.
Unfortunately, by the time we get to thinking of ourselves our resources are depleted from time to money and everything in-between. For the past few years though, I have made a personal commitment to myself to ensure I do not neglect my personal development.
But how do you decide when you should engage in paid coaching, mentorships, courses in order to get the best return on investment?
Ask on your areas of interest
If you are formally employed, it pays to speak with the human resources department about events that can be paid for by the company. Most organisations want to invest in their staff but do not always have the time to investigate all the programmes available.
For example, a class or training on time management is both personal development and has a bearing on your execution of duties. It doesn’t hurt to find out if a course you’re interested in can be accommodated in the budget as long as you can show that it brings value to the organisation.
Evaluate free sessions
Getting a coach is not a cheap undertaking, and certainly not those who are worth their money. However, a number of coaches in various areas whether it is personal life, career or businesses have sessions that they conduct free of charge, or that they conduct for large groups of people.
Since most of them have a social media presence, all you need to do is ensure you sign up for the medium they use so you can be alerted when they have an event. While you may not get significant one-on-one help at these events, there are opportunities to ask questions and to chat for a short while afterwards so it is still possible to get value.
Evaluate the return on investment
When you have to pay for a course or a session yourself, do extensive research to ensure that you will get your money’s worth out of it. Especially look into support after the session, clarity on helping you achieve certain goals and testimonials from past clients. Also, find out if you can get a better deal if you sign up with a few friends to spread the cost while still getting value.
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