Learn How to Learn: Create Your 2024 Training Calendar

Whether you’re a rookie real estate agent or a veteran in the business, consistently learning and continuing your education should be a top priority if you want to build a successful career and a fulfilling life. As Steve Jobs said, “There’s always one more thing to learn.” There’s no better time than right now, at the top of 2024, to build out your training calendar for the year ahead.

We’ve outlined some daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, biannual, and annual activities you should aim to complete in the year ahead to keep learning and growing.

Daily

Meredith Maples, senior director of Keller Williams University, says that training opportunities broadly fall into two categories: formal and informal. “Formal training opportunities are sitting down in a traditional, classroom setting,” she says. “Informal training is more timely things, like sitting down for coffee with another agent, downloading one-pagers from the Playbooks on Connect, watching videos, or reading a book.”

The daily educational opportunities you pursue will most likely be informal. Here are a few you can time block on your calendar:

• Reading: Any business books that are specific to your industry, market, and lifestyle.
• Podcasts: Consider podcasts hosted by leaders in your area of focus, industry-specific interviews and narratives, and ones that are thought-leadership and mindfulness-centered.
• Videos: Social media is a great resource for insider knowledge, first-person accounts, and educational content that relates to your profession. You can find videos on everything from art to coding.
• Review one-pagers or Playbooks and link them back to your business.

Weekly

At the weekly level and beyond, you should seek out more formal training opportunities. For real estate agents and other professionals, your office or corporate headquarters may have a training calendar that is the best resource for this. Make sure you have a copy and you know what’s being offered. Don’t be afraid to look for more opportunities: consider enrolling in weekly online or in-person classes that will help you learn new skills or hone ones you’re developing.

Better yet, if you have expertise on something, train! See if there’s anyone in your network or market that could benefit from your knowledge. You could find a spot on an upcoming panel, offer local in-person or online classes, or commit to self-study.

Monthly

Check your calendar monthly and ensure that you’re developing your network through things like:

• Career nights
• Industry events

Quarterly

At least once a quarter, you should:

• Review your financials with a business coach or accountant, seeing if you can spot any trends in your numbers. These could be opportunities for investment or adjustments, as well as show you whether your activities are providing you with the results you want.
• Make sure you’re staying ahead of market trends by keeping up with new books on personal development or business strategy.
  • To share the fun and keep yourself accountable you can start a book club, like the upcoming live MREA Book Club. (beginning Jan. 11)

Biannually

Twice a year, think about challenging yourself with a longer learning experience:

• Courses or bootcamps that take a few weeks can give you the space that you need to boost productivity, revisit business fundamentals, or master new skills.

Annually

Some educational commitments require big financial investments, and some are simply good habits. Both can bring you big rewards. Consider doing these each year:

• Attend a retreat. Whether your specialty is marketing, real estate, or wealth-building, chances are there is an annual retreat that is intensive and will teach you a lot in a short period of time. Family Reunion and Mega Agent Camp are cornerstone real estate events, but you can also use retreats to get clear on your goals and priorities.
• Plan for next year. Many entrepreneurs use Q3 and Q4 to review their finances, assess their resources, and set a vision for the coming year.

After you’ve built out your training calendar, don’t forget to time block for applying those lessons to your business. After all, “You can sit in a training class all day long, but unless you reflect on it and put it into action, it doesn’t really matter,” Maples says.

What are some new activities you plan to add to your 2024 training or educational calendar? Let us know on our Facebook page. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more deep dives like this into books and the path to success.