Use Your Resources

I have notebooks full of notes.

Business cards.

Saved emails.

Bookmarks.

Screenshots.

Books.

Templates.

Phone numbers.

Links somebody told me I absolutely needed to save.

And I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one. 😂

We can become really good at collecting resources.

Using them?

That's a different assignment.

Earlier this month, we talked about getting more dirt.

Sometimes growth really does require more resources.

Then we checked our backpacks and realized we may already be carrying some of what we need.

But there's another step.

Use it.

A resource we never use can't help us very much.

The book sitting on the shelf may contain exactly what we need to learn.

The contact saved in our phone may be able to answer the question we've been struggling with.

The class we completed may have given us a worksheet we never implemented.

The coach may have already given us the recommendation.

The organization may offer technical assistance.

The software may already have the feature we're paying someone else to recreate.

The introduction may already have been made.

The information may already be sitting in our inbox.

Sometimes the problem isn't access.

It's application.

And I've learned that there's a difference between being resourceful and being resourced.

Being resourced means something is available to us.

Being resourceful means we recognize what we have and figure out how to use it.

That matters at a new grade level.

Remember open-book tests?

The answers weren't necessarily handed to us.

We still had to know where to look.

We had to understand the material enough to recognize what information mattered.

Having the textbook didn't automatically mean we passed the test.

Adult life works that way too.

We can have mentors and never ask questions.

Attend workshops and never review the notes.

Join organizations and never participate.

Buy tools and never learn how to use them.

Build relationships and only contact people when we need something.

Save information and never return to it.

Then we can find ourselves saying:

“I don't have what I need.”

Maybe.

But before deciding that, check again.

What resources are already available?

And more importantly:

What have I actually done with them?

Using resources requires intention.

If someone gives us advice, we still have to decide whether and how to apply it.

If we attend a training, we have to practice something we learned.

If we're introduced to someone, we have to follow up.

If we have access to support, we have to ask for it.

If we purchase a tool, we have to learn it.

If we receive an opportunity, we have to participate.

Resources create possibility.

Action creates value.

That doesn't mean every resource belongs in our strategy.

We don't have to use everything simply because it's available.

Part of maturity is knowing which tools fit the assignment.

But once we've identified something useful, collecting more isn't necessarily the next step.

Maybe the next step is implementation.

Go back through the notes.

Open the email.

Make the call.

Schedule the meeting.

Use the template.

Read the chapter.

Ask the question.

Apply the lesson.

Follow up on the introduction.

You may discover that you're more equipped than you thought.

The resource was already there.

Now it's time to use it.

Use your resources.