Continuing Biz Education: When to Invest, What to Skip, and How Not to Burn Out

In this episode, I’m getting into something I’m super passionate about—continuing education for business owners. Because yes, we should all be learning as we grow… but we also don’t need to drown in a sea of unread newsletters, abandoned courses, and “maybe someday” content.

So here’s the scoop, straight from my experience and an idea sparked by a long-time biz connection:

• Why continuing biz education matters (and what happens when you don’t)
• How to be intentional about the content you choose
• Why “one-size-fits-all” frameworks are 🚩🚩🚩
• How to avoid becoming a course-hoarder with a digital closet of unfinished stuff
• Easy ways to actually make time for learning (without guilt)
• When to chill, take a break, or bring in a coach for accountability

Whether you're deep in CEO growth mode or just want to avoid wasting money on another "guru" program, this episode will help you think more clearly about where to invest your time, money, and energy.

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

Transcript

Welcome back to another episode of the Biz Magic Podcast, your place for all things tech in your online business with solids. So General Biz Chat two. My name is Patty Meyer and I am the CEO and founder of Biz Magic, where my team and I support entrepreneurs who are overwhelmed by the backend tech of their business.

We create, implement, and teach the tweaks that help our clients make a bigger impact with less stress. Today we are talking about something that came up recently in a conversation with, um, somebody in my network, um, that I've known for a long time, and, um, that is continuing education as a business owner.

They reached out to me and asked me what my thoughts were about continuing education as a business owner because it can feel. A bit overwhelming. Um, and sometimes we can sign up for 5,000 courses and not take them or just shut down and not do anything at all. And so they asked what my thoughts were on that.

Is it important I. And my answer is yes. Um, but like most things in business, my answer is also that it depends. So let's start with the obvious, right? So things are always changing. Industries evolve. Technology is fricking light. Years of speed, fast buyer behavior shifts, economy goes up and down and sideways, and whatever the hell it's doing right now.

So if you're running your business today with the exact same knowledge and skillset that you had five years ago, meh. Probably not the the best, right? It's like if you're trying to run the newest iOS system on an iPhone four, right? It's not gonna work. It's not gonna be compatible. So. The same as technology grows, so do we.

We learn how to adult better. Possibly we deal with new life stages or we figure out how to fold a fitted sheet. Our business brain needs the same care and feeding as we as humans do. But here's the catch kind of of this all, which is where I think we get kind of cut up in. There's so much out there, right?

Like. Endless whatever industry you're in there, but especially in the online business world, there is so much educational content out there and everybody and their uncle has their way of doing it, right? They have the method that they're pitching, their framework, their program, their course. The holy grail of business and success.

And if you do this, you're going to be successful with that or just take this course and in three weeks you're gonna do, do, do, do. Right. And I love a good system, I love a good tech, all of that. But when somebody. Says their way is the way for me, that's a red flag. And I've talked about this many times, and I think this is another area to apply that idea, right?

So if you're gonna keep learning, and I do think that, that you should. Let's make sure that you're doing it in a way that's intentional, strategic, and doesn't leave you with a ton of courses stacked up that you've started watching, um, or almost finished, or is really just sitting there, right? That's kind of the big part of this.

So I want you to kind of start by. Considering the source, who were you learning from? Do you like them? Do you vibe with their energy, their values, their style? Try to look at some of their content that they've put out there, especially if they're doing a course, they definitely have free content. Um, are they speaking to you or to a broad audience of.

Everyone who wants to grow a business, right? General information can be super helpful in a business, but you'll, you'll get a lot more from somebody who has walked a similar path that you're walking, right? So, so for example, I've purchased courses on marketing or content strategy or you know, whatever, all sorts of things over the years, but.

The, the places that I've spent most of my money intentionally at the end in programs that were agency, um, focused, right, because I run an agency and so this is different than other types of businesses, and therefore I resonated more with the information that was given to me by people who were specializing in agencies because it's, it's more transferable.

It's, it's more. It's more relevant, right? And again, you wanna keep an eye out for if somebody is promising a one size fits all magic pill for your business. I would recommend that you walk away from that. Um, that for me tends to be problematic. But you trust yourself and you know, if you really like the person and they're saying this, then, then you go for it.

But in general, that's that red flag that I would run from. So when you're thinking about. Who you're learning from, really pay attention to kind of those tips of it. And then you wanna think about what the focus is of this, this content, right? What do you actually need help with right now? Is it, is it hiring your first va?

Is it getting your automations to work well? Is it mindset? Is it sales? Choose content that solves your current challenge, not something that might be helpful someday, right? That you might need it at some point. Because that's where you will get too much, right? And you'll end up with all of these potential.

Maybe one day this will be helpful and you're not going to get to it. There's a really good chance you're not gonna get to it, right? So really think about what your gaps are right now. And when I talk about. Content. I also wanna be clear that I'm not just talking about buying courses, I'm also talking about newsletters.

You're reading blogs, you follow coaches, just all sorts of things, memberships that you're in. All of this is considered content and things that you wanna think about so that you don't overwhelm yourself. Okay? So be honest about what your gaps are, and pick the thing that will move the needle the most right now in your business.

The next thing to think about. Is how much is too much when it comes to content that you're going to consume for your business? I know I am not the only one that has purchased over the years. Hundreds, and I am not kidding when I say hundreds, and some of them were free. Some of them were low cost, some of them were parts of bundles.

But I literally have hundreds of courses that I've purchased over the years. Maybe you have a Google Drive full of business trainings, or three Kajabi logins or seven courses that are bookmarked for when you have time. But I highly recommend that you do one thing at a time, one course. Finish it. Maybe subscribe to two to three podcasts at a at a time.

Listen to those. You can choose then to catch up on different ones. You know, the nice thing about podcasts is most of them aren't going anywhere right now. And so stick to two or three right now that you like the most, including the Biz Magic Podcast. And, um, change it up if you want to, when you wanna listen to something else.

But the more that you put on that plate, right. The less you're gonna actually do, because you're gonna feel overwhelmed. Create an email folder for newsletters that you actually want to read, but don't have time to read right now. Don't let them sit in your inbox and clog things up. Also, put education on your calendar.

I have education blocked out every Friday for two hours. Do I always use it exactly as planned? No. No, I don't. But it's there. And it reminds me that part of my job as a business owner is to keep learning. Some weeks I will dive into a new tool and just educate myself on how something's working, right.

Some weeks I'll read some articles or watch some videos, or read some blog posts or move forward on a course that I have purchased, whatever that looks like, right? But it is intentional. And I do allow it to be flexible sometimes. But also I don't want you to guilt yourself into it. If you pressure yourself to be like, I have to finish this course this week, or I failed as a business owner or CEO, you're gonna avoid it all together and we don't want that, right?

Sometimes you run the season of implementation, not education, and that's cool. There are times when you don't have time for additional education at all. There is nothing wrong with that, so. Allow that to just be and come back to it when you have time. The last thing I think to think about is accountability, because that really is the key.

If you know that you won't follow through without someone to give you a little nudge or call you out lovingly, ideally. Consider working with a coach who specializes in what you need. Bonus points if they know their way around your mindset blocks too, because we all have them. But again, make sure that they're not promising to turn you into a six figure TikTok influencer in six weeks with zero effort, because I know that you're smarter than that.

So yeah, hopefully that's all helpful. Um. So the, the kind of quick summary of all of this is keep learning. I think it's a part of your job. Be picky about what, how, and from whom you learn. That is really important. Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to consume it all or consume it all at once. Schedule time for it, but give yourself grace and most importantly, invest in learning that aligns with you and not somebody's.

Instagram highlight reel. Okay. That's it. That's what I have for you today. I hope that this is helpful. I would love to hear, uh, what you're learning right now. What are you intentionally putting your I. Time into education wise and um, yeah. Feel free to send me a message at patty@bizmagic.co. I'm always here to help you with any of your tech needs or if you need a new website or just whatever, whatever.

Whatever you need, I'm around. You can find out everything that we do@bizmagic.co. And uh, till next time, thank you for listening to another episode of the Biz Magic Podcast. Like most small businesses and podcasts, we rely heavily on word of mouth. So if you like what you heard today or in any episode, please share with your friends and colleagues.

And rate, subscribe and comment on your favorite podcast platform. Till next time, cheers to your magical biz success.