How I Make the Most of Online Courses
5 Tips for putting what you learn to use and getting the most out of your investment
If you’re an online entrepreneur, at some point or another you’ve likely invested in an online course only to let it gather digital dust. I’ve done it many times, but when I finally applied these tips, I started not only working through my courses, but seeing real progress and implementing what I learned.
First, Do Your Research
While it’s easy to get caught up in a list of promises that a course offers, be sure to spend time exploring what subject matter will be covered. Take advantage of any free modules, webinars, or worksheets available and truly put them to the test. What benefit did you get out of them? If you find yourself skimming over already, the course may not be a good fit. Also be aware of your own expertise and learning gaps. Will this course truly expand your knowledge or skillset? Of course, sometimes you’re just looking for industry insight into a peer’s process.
Know Your Own Learning Style
Do you like really thorough lessons that dive deep, or do you prefer short, actionable trainings? Do you learn best with video, or do you prefer to read through a written lesson? Be sure the course you’re planning on enrolling in fits your learning style. Even if someone is a great teacher, if it doesn’t activate the way you learn, you may struggle with absorbing the material. Likewise, get to know the instructor and make sure learning from them gets you excited and inspired.
Seek Accountability + Share
If you’re enrolling in an in-depth course, you’d probably benefit from accountability along the way. Does the course offer a community or live component? Or would a like-minded friend take the course with you? Sharing in the journey with someone else and getting to know fellow classmates is a great motivator to actually do the learning. If you can’t take advantage of that, consider sharing your goals with a friend or family member and ask them to check in on you, or perhaps challenging yourself to share your progress publicly in some way, such as social media. The other way to truly learn something is to teach others to do it. That doesn’t mean revealing proprietary information from the course, but instead seeing if you teach the concepts to someone unfamiliar in a way that helps cement it for both of you.
Don’t Binge Watch
If you’re excited about the course you've signed up for, you’ll likely be tempted to peruse all of the content. But the best thing I’ve done when taking a course is to challenge myself to not move on to the next lesson until I’ve implemented what I’ve learned. Many courses will break the lessons down into modules that are more actionable. Use this to your advantage and practice the techniques explored, take notes, and truly absorb what you’ve learned so you can build skills as you go.
Investment
This may seem counter-intuitive, but I have had the most success and seen the most growth and learning from courses that called for true financial consideration (and this will look like different amounts for everyone). Many of the free courses I’ve signed up for have gone unwatched because I knew I could get to them eventually, and perhaps signed up out of mild curiosity. The courses I truly invested in, I was determined to get out what I put in and it motivated me to do so. If you can see true value and growth potential from a course but it feels like a stretch, find out if there’s a payment plan—which is another way to get an external reminder every month when you go to pay your installment and reflect on if you’ve taken advantage of the course offerings in the meantime.
