I recently read an article by The Everygirl on a photographer who has made a name for herself in her industry through creative branding and successful leveraging of social media. Although I’m not a photographer, or even as artistic and trendy as Jenna Kutcher, I haven’t stopped thinking about one of the things she said about staying inspired in your business:
“Create, then consume.”
She describes the world of social media as a shouting match, one that can block our own creativity from flowing freely. You can read the article for some great practical suggestions about how to change your focus from consuming to creating; it’s good stuff.
I’ve been pondering on this a lot as it relates to our dogs and training. How many times do I think “man, I wish I had time to teach my dog x, y, and z” and it never seems to make it to the top of the list; but yet I find the time to check Facebook for five minutes (*cough* or more *cough*) every morning and night. If I spent just as much time teaching my dog something new every day, he might be qualified to run for president four years from now.
I have initiated a little challenge for myself. I’m working up to the goal behavior of lots of training, little bit of social media, so to start out, my objective is to spend at least half as much time on training as I do checking SM platforms. So if I spend 30 minutes on Facebook, I will do a 15-minute (or 3 5-minute) training session(s) with my own dog each day.
Roo has loved the extra attention this week! He's already fine-tuned his pivoting skills (getting ready for his Intermediate Parkour Dog Title!) and practiced backing up onto high objects.
If you want to join me on this challenge, I’d love to have company! Even if you don’t have a dog to train, find something else to start working on. Pick up an instrument you haven’t practiced in years, find a language-learning application, start an educational book, or a writing project. 15 minutes doesn’t seem that long, especially compared to how much time I often spend consuming online.
If you and your dog accomplish something great during these sessions, I want to see it! Share you progress on Facebook or Instagram so that we can encourage each other!