Most of us want to do the good things we know we should.
We want to eat right.
We want to go to sleep at a decent hour.
We want to do the thing that’s going to take our business/relationship/health to the next level….
But change is hard!
If you’re creating an online course that requires your students to make changes, one of the first things you need to do is figure out what obstacles are likely standing in your learner’s way. Here’s are some common obstacles:
Obstacle #1: Impulsivity. Impulsivity is the desire to opt for something that is instantly gratifying instead of pursuing long-term rewards. Impulsivity is what gets you to say “yes” to a sudden invite from a friend for coffee instead of watching the next video lesson in your online course or putting the most recent coaching session into practice.
Obstacle #2: Procrastination. Procrastination is sort of like a byproduct of our impulsivity. If we give into our impulses frequently, we’re going to run up against a time issue where we simply won’t have enough time to do the less immediately gratifying but nevertheless important tasks.
In online courses, it’s very common to see a dip in participation or completion somewhere between one third and two thirds of the way through the course. In the beginning, they’re full of excitement and determined to soak everything up from your course that they can… then the real work sets in. Suddenly, setting aside time for the course doesn’t sound as fun anymore, so they put it off for “later.”
How can you motivate them to make progress on your course, even when it’s no longer as fun as it was in the beginning?
Obstacle #3: Forgetfulness. Like I said before, we are creatures of habit. It’s easy to have the best of intentions, but simply forget to follow through because sitting down to watch an online course isn’t part of your learner’s regular routine.
Obstacle #4: Laziness. We tend to follow the path of least resistance. While “laziness” isn’t a very flattering term, following the path of least resistance has its benefits. For example, simply choosing the most highly rated Mexican restaurant in my area is much more efficient than reading the menu of every restaurant.
In terms of your online course, they’re going to look for the path of least resistance there as well. They’ll skip the workbook pages and resources, jump from lesson to lesson instead of going in sequential order, and try to cut corners on your methodology.
If we’re honest with ourselves, most of us have come up against each of those obstacles…. Sometimes on a daily basis!
If you’re in the business of helping people change their lives through an online course or program, you need to count on these obstacles standing in the way of your client’s goals. While that may sound a little pessimistic, it gives you the ability to make a plan for how to address it.
This is my specialty! If you want to strategically guide your learners away from these obstacles and toward positive action, let’s talk! Book in a time HERE and we’ll discuss how we can tackle these obstacles head-on in your course plan!