Are you a fan of the heat? Perhaps you were excited when the temperature dial moved to 40 degrees here in the UK a few weeks ago. I however am not that person. While I love the heat on holiday where I can lay by the pool and read my book, in real life where I still have to have zoom calls, teach lessons and create content it is much less fun.
A few Mondays ago when the heat was only a mere 27 degrees at 8 am I had an hour’s zoom meeting. It was stifling hot and I watched on the screen as a bead of sweat dropped off my face onto the desk. I felt disgusting, uncomfortable, and unable to concentrate. I couldn’t hack it any longer so I did what I do best – get online and bought a portable air conditioner. I justified this by saying it was cheaper than booking a hotel with air conditioning for the next couple of nights (Although my energy bill will probably disagree with that statement!)
The next day this ginormous beast of a white machine arrived and mercifully was easy to set up and soon I was basking in the cool 16-degree temperatures. My hair no longer stuck to my face and neck and my face no longer resembled a bright red pufferfish. I was in heaven. I got so much work done that day as I didn’t want to leave the office, I was in a cool box sanctuary. I genuinely do not know how I would have met deadlines without it.
This got me thinking. This purchase was not cheap (neither was it super expensive – I bought one of the cheapest units with the best reviews going) but even in the few days I had had it, I already felt like it had paid back the investment. In a way, this is very much like your CIPS Training.
Sometimes it can be difficult to make an investment in yourself. Have you ever added hundreds of pounds worth of shopping to your online basket and then balked at paying the £3.99 delivery fee? I do this all the time! We do not always make rational decisions, but your CIPS training is an investment in you. Not to be cheesy, but it is an investment in the future you. When I finished my CIPS I was headhunted for a job with a £17,000 pay rise. I see thousands of students who I have trained go from strength to strength, advancing the ladder and earning more and more. This could be you!
Just a quick caveat here. I understand that I have a certain amount of privilege to be able to invest in the air conditioning, and money and circumstances are not always there to make this decision an easy one. But even without the financial resources, you can invest in strategies to help future you. If I go back to the heat example, my other strategies were freezing a hot water bottle and putting my bottom sheets in the freezer before bed. These helped me sleep although I did feel a bit weird putting the sheets next to the frozen peas!
You can also use strategies to invest in your training. There are Facebook communities that can help you (we happen to have an amazing one if we do say so ourselves!) which you can find here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/baocipstraining
There are free YouTube channels set up to help you, we recommend Procurement Studybuddy and of course our own here: https://www.youtube.com/c/BusinessAcademyOnline
Finally, we are offering a scholarship for our premium Diamond Package Level 4 Training. Over £3300 worth of CIPS training totally free. Our applications are live until 1st September and can be found here: subscribepage.io/kwk7HQ
Invest in yourself today, I guarantee you won’t regret it