Shopping for knowledge

Last year, when lockdown started I decided that I wanted to learn some specific skills and get educated in some subjects of personal interest. I wanted to get back into the world with an edge, I wanted to come out of the lockdown better than I got into it.

So I looked online for education and through Instagram ads I stumbled upon a website called Udemy, an online learning platform that offers a wide variety of courses on any subject one likes. What caught my eye was the size of the deals they periodically offer. You could pay £9.99 or £12.99 for a £200 course or similar.

So I started buying courses and hoarding them, just in case. At the beginning, actually for a few months, I dived into the courses, very intensely and studiously, I was committed and I was learning loads, I was very happy, but then things got out of hand.

A new deal would pop out after a few weeks and I would start scouting the platform for courses I would want to do and I started borrowing money from my best friend. At that point I decided that I needed to buy all the courses I could while the getting was good.

The cycle started spiraling out, my buying impulses started spilling over outside of that learning platform into new learning platforms like Skillshare or Coursera, and then just onto anything. Before I knew it, I needed more courses to quench my thirst and then more stuff and I needed to move fast because time was ticking and deals don't last forever.

I started looking at new scissors because I am a hairdresser, so it makes sense, but the thing is that pro scissors are really expensive and I already have a pair that I could just sharpen for £20 instead of buying a new pair for £500 or even £150, which is really the cheapest you can go before you start buying useless rubbish. So I found this website called The Pissed Off Barber who sells items equal in quality to branded ones, but because they are not from famous brands, they cost infinitely less and work just as fine and I wanted to buy everything!

I didn't buy the scissors at the end but I did buy an electronic drum kit, a pair of monitor speakers, headphones, and a USB microphone for podcasting and music production or whateverand then I bought a pen display to draw on the computer. Fter that I was about to buy a tablet, to draw away from home, the aforementioned pro scissors, some new hair clippers, a new bass amp, and more courses, more books, a subscription to Masterclass and a Vitamix blender started looking like something I would have a hard time living without from now on.

In for a penny, in for a pound, right?

Alas, finally, one day reality hit me in the face, not literally, and not too hard, but just hard enough for me to notice. I have a wtf moment. I looked at my bank account and I noticed that I had 50£ to live on for the following 3 weeks and my fridge was empty. I had to ask more money from my best friend and at this point I was heavily indebted to him, which is not the worst thing that could have happened to me, because he is my best friend and has a well paying job and enough savings to not be too bothered by it, but this situation wasn't ok. No sir!

I realized this was out of control, I don't need a new Vitamix blender, yes I could use one because it is awesome and lasts a lifetime, and I can make salad dressings and nut butters and smoothies and soups, but right now? Is that a priority? Well no! I have teeth I can chew and if I need something a bit more ground I can use a kitchen knife and some elbow action. Furthermore I already have a pair of scissors, and with a podcast setup in my bedroom sitting next to my new drum kit what else do I deed to add to rock!? I already bought all I thought I needed and I it turns out that I am using it less than I thought I would. Hell, half of the courses I bought I didn't even start! So what am I doing?!

I was succumbing to compulsion ad ancestral insecurity and to the power of copywriting. Which is ironic because the first course I bought was a course on copywriting. Talk about learning from experience. Anyway, I had to stop. So I did, I stopped and I started actually trying to use and enjoy what I bought already, instead of buying more. I must admit, now I have a little more empathy for shop-aholics.

Truth be told, I am still going through my courses little by little, I am playing my drums every day for a few minutes, I am slowly integrating all that which I bought into my daily habits so that I don't feel like I was a fool wasting my best friend's money. I am enjoying my purchases, the lessons learned along the way in this year of introspection and study and I do feel like I became more resistant to my targeted ads.

Nice talking to you, now if you'll excuse me I need to see what's this new very exclusive deal that Udemy is telling me about.