Motivational whiplash after graduation

My kids are stressed up to their eyeballs dealing with final exams this week.

You remember that period of your life. Sleep deprivation. Poring over facts that will likely be forever useless in two days. Forgetting to eat and then wondering why you have a headache.

What struck me: How weird is it that when we’re in college we spend SO MUCH time, effort, and money on learning? Even though much of the subject matter and all of the details are dictated by some authority figure we don’t even know.

And then after we graduate and start working – when our knowledge and skills have the biggest impact on our life – we catch ourselves becoming “too busy” for learning.

I’m inspired by the many PR pros who buck that trend. The ones who stay committed to lifelong learning. And seek out and choose the best resources to help them meet their specific goals.

Now can be a good time of year to invest in yourself. You may have professional development budget that needs to be spent before year-end. Or, if you work for yourself, you can likely take a tax deduction on investments made before Dec. 31 (check with your accountant).

These online courses are good options for you:

– The Definitive Guide to PR Writing course will show you how to write copy that’s more engaging, more concise, and will help you do it faster, without errors.
– The Crafting the Perfect Pitch course gives you my entire playbook on creating media pitches that earn responses and coverage. The dozens of example pitches showcased in the course are worth the investment, by themselves.

You can purchase an entire course, or pick and choose among the various modules if your budget is tighter.

Whether it’s these courses or some other resource, tap into your drive for learning. You’ll multiply your skills and your results.