By Scott A. Couchenour, Certified Life Coach

Conferences come and go each year. Participants spend hundreds of dollars on registration fees, travel, lodging, meals and extra purchases at the conference bookstore. But how many conference binders are sitting on the shelves in your office collecting dust? For example, what three life-changing routines are you incorporating into your life and ministry as a result of that conference you attended last year?
Finite Time
When we say “yes” to one thing, we say “no” to another. Time is limited. Our attention on any one thing is limited. Better to work from a prioritized list of a few themes and go deeper than to try to go shallow on more than you can realistically handle.
A Personal Master Plan
Here is a suggested six-step approach to planning, attending, and integrating the right conferences. Follow each step in order.
1. Facets. Identify your major life facets. Your list could include things such as relationship with God, marriage, parenthood, ministry/vocation, finances, physical health and so on.
2. Themes. Identify one or two major themes for each life facet. (For example, in your “finances” theme you may want to, firsti, eliminate all your credit card debt; and, second, set up a spending plan. Then prioritize this list.
3. Conferences. List on one piece of paper all of the potential conferences over the next 12 months. For each conference, preview and evaluate the speaker list, breakouts and topics/content covered.
4. Alignment. Take your best understanding of the conferences and identify how each is aligned with your themes. Ask, “How will this conference help me grow in my prioritized theme list?” You will end up with a prioritized list of those conferences that will best support your personal master plan. Select those conferences that have the best alignment and fit your schedule and budget. Eliminate the rest of the conferences.
5. Benefits. Now that you have selected the conference(s) you wish to attend, identify the 3 to 5 benefits you will be looking to receive from each conference. Be specific. Saying, “I want to be a better communicator” is too vague. Better to say, “I want to know the top three things I can change in order to tell better stories.” Once you have your benefits clearly in mind, you will be better able to seize opportunities for growth during the conference.
6. Integration. When you return home, you will likely have a fistful of benefits. You are not done yet. Now the real work. Take each benefit and create doable routines over the next 90 days to integrate each benefit into the fabric of your life and ministry. You may require the help of an accountability partner or coach. This step is the vital link between conferences you invest in and your Personal Growth Master Plan.
When we blindly attend conferences with little or no game plan, we waste our time and money with hit-or-miss personal growth. Real growth happens when our eyes are open. Next time you see an opportunity to attend a conference, try these six steps. After all, it is not about the conference, it is about how the conference can help your personal growth.
Church Solutions
The Church Solutions Conference & Expo (February 17-19, 2009, in Phoenix) looks like it will be a tremendous value for the person seeking their Personal Growth Master Plan. Some of the topics/content being covered:
• Strategic staff planning
• Effective hiring
• Using your church campus as an outreach tool
• Engaging people through excellent communication
• Living a balanced life
• Trends in the multisite movement
• Ways to improve your church’s Web site
I urge you to give the Church Solutions Conference a good, hard look. As you run it through your six-step evaluation, I am confident there is more than enough being offered to enhance your personal growth.
Scott A. Couchenour, Certified Life Coach
Founder, Owner – Serving Strong
Web: www.servingstrong.com
Blog: www.servingstrong.typepad.com