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Using a Computer |  |
Home |
Using a Computer | |
There's plenty of excuses you can come up with. From "...my business is too small at the moment" to "computers take too much time to learn."
You can't teach an old dog new tricks. Computers are for young minds. I can't change now. I'm not sophisticated enough. It worked right for me all these years and there is no reason to change now. Why fix something that isn't broke? I could never work a computer. I can't even type a letter let alone, work one of "those things."
The list of excuses goes on and on. Does it sound like you've come up with a good enough excuse yet? Perhaps you can turn this report into an exercise and try and dream up more. However, the fact remains that all those excuses are only "myths." YOU CAN afford a computer and YOU CAN increase your productivity while increasing your income _ ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
All you have to do is get a computer!
As a business owner you took many risks in starting your business. You didn't let opinioned people stop you. You didn't come up with excuses not to start your own business _ you just did it. What happened to that part of you?
A computer is nothing more than an appliance. It doesn't know more than you do _ you control "it" and tell "it" what you want "it" to do. The only problem is you have to understand how to make "it" work to YOUR advantage. It's really not difficult. In fact _ it's fun!
Always remember that a computer is a stupid thing. It only knows what "yes" and "no" are. It only knows "on" and "off." As complex human beings we not only know "yes" and "no" but also "maybe." We know about "on" and "off" but we also know about "lukewarm." Since we think on multi-dimensional planes and a computer only knows two _ in reality WE are really SMARTER than our computer.
So stop being scared to join the electronic age. Call up a computer store in your area and start trying to locate a 1-week night class for beginners. Or better yet, locate a neighbor or family member who has computer knowledge and get them to show you a few things one evening after work on their home computer. Play a few games on it. Feel comfortable in knowing that you can actually touch the keys and it won't blow up.
As a computer instructor in the late 1980's, most of my time was spent in training beginners. Computers were not quite as popular as they are today and everyone was "more" emotional about touching them. In order to help my students relax and learn how to work with their mouse I installed a Solitaire game on each computer. I then allowed the students to "play" the entire first and second day of classes.
Since most everyone already understands the concept of playing the game of Solitaire with regular cards, they immediately were introduced to something they already felt comfortable with. So instead of concentrating on how hard it was to work a mouse on a real-live computer system _ they actually forgot they had a mouse in their hands. Their concentration was deviated toward the Solitaire game itself.
Once this wall of fear was broken _ students learned at astronomical rates! Believe me, if I can take a 62-year-old lady directly from typing with a manual typewriter to producing high-quality brochures and flyers in WordPerfect 5.1 _ you can do it too!
One of the keys to learning is by having people-to-people instruction for a couple hours if you have never sat down at a computer before. Some people will require more people-to-people instruction before they feel comfortable, while others may be able to do it all by themselves. (Gene Brown is a mail order friend of mine that did just that. He is a self-educated computer operator and is now wondering "how" he did without his computer before. Gene will be the first to tell you that he cannot believe the time and automation benefits having a computer has made to his business.)
