7 Things I’ve Learned After Collecting over 300 Courses
I feel a bit like an idiot for even writing this headline.
After all, we go through maybe 60–80 courses in our initial schooling. If we go on and train further, we may go through another 8–60.
So you may be wondering why I’ve gathered more than 2–4 times the number of courses most people go through in their life:
- First, I want to say I likely have an issue with impulse control — internet marketers can convince me (too) easily.
- Secondly, I find many things interesting, get hooked by the scarcity trigger, and then buy so I can have the knowledge “for later reference.”
So, no great reasons.
If you’re still with me, you may wonder why I’m even bothering to write this article. I’ve decided to confess my failure in public for two reasons:
- I want to process the lessons I’ve learned from being a gullible cash cow.
- I hope my experience can serve as a warning for someone who may be just as vulnerable as me.
1. Buying Courses Feels Good — At Least Initially
I think this is an important and overlooked point.
Successful internet marketers know how to use emotional triggers to make you feel like it’s a great decision and push you over the edge to buy.
Because of the strategic use of psychological triggers, it can almost feel like you’ve opened the lid of a pressure cooker, and there’s a moment of relief after the sale goes through.
From personal experience, many of these sales sequences drill into your pain points, only amplifying the “release” after the purchase.
Depending on my level of consciousness, buyer’s remorse often followed.
Many times the “reason” I told myself why I just had to have the course didn’t hold up after the sales pitch was done.
So while the purchase feels good and like progress in the moment, for me, it’s often a red herring and hiding a deeper issue I’m trying to patch over.
My Lesson: Identify how I’m being manipulated in the future and wait just a little longer before committing.
2. Price Isn’t Always Correlated with Quality
At first glance, this may be shocking. I strongly believed that a higher-priced course must be of better quality.
Sometimes, some of the most modestly priced courses have held the most value.
Part of this may be the order of exposure. After all, I’m more likely to buy a cheaper course than a more expensive course.
Therefore, most of the value may come from the first exposure, regardless of price.
Having taken some more expensive courses in a new topic, I still believe this observation holds true.
My Lesson: In the words of the Princess and the Frog, sometimes I have to dig a little deeper and not use price as a barometer for quality.
3. Many Courses Conflict
As I’ve gone through a few courses on the same topic, I’ve run into this more. While I initially found this alarming, I also found some comfort in the contradictions.
I believe that for experience-based fields, it shows that there may be more than one pathway to success. It makes me think that if I do some things differently than the guru I’m listening to, I may still be okay.
The freedom also becomes overwhelming.
If there is more than one pathway to success, then I’ll likely have to do something and experiment. Buying and digesting a course is easy — just takes being gullible and having capital.
Through my compulsive collecting, I’ve realized that I fear failure — something I’m trying to slowly remedy.
My Lesson: Commit to completing and using any course I purchase. It will lead to a smaller collection and less dread.
4. The Course Platform Makes a Difference
This may seem obvious, but it is something I had to learn the hard way.
Just like most businesses have specialty products, so too do course platforms. Some platforms are better for certain things and attract domain experts in specific fields.
Also, some make the learning process more enjoyable/easier. If you’re curious at some point, I’d be happy to share which platforms I’ve preferred over time.
My Lesson: Pick the right platform for what I want to learn. It makes all the difference if I use and enjoy a course.
5. Communities > Knowledge
A couple of courses that I bought, I solely bought for access to the community.
After going through 50 courses and having FAR more to go, I feel more confident in the following statement:
“Most courses don’t teach something that can’t be found elsewhere on the internet.”
It’s been true in my experience.
Part of what I was paying for was saving on time — hoping that the course put together the right information to get me where I needed to go.
The part I don’t think I could replace on my own is the communities attached to some of the courses. Some of the nicest, smartest, and most helpful people I’ve met have been in the online communities I’ve been a part of.
So while the information has sometimes been helpful, the relationships have been priceless.
My Lesson: Relationships are possibly more helpful and fulfilling than the knowledge I collect.
6. More Courses, More Problems
Analysis Paralysis.
That’s what I feel every time I look at my spreadsheet that links to all my courses. There’s just so much on there that I often don’t know where to begin. Also, it’s just so many passwords that I have to manage.
Collecting so many courses also forced me to improvise a course directory. The spreadsheet is far from perfect and fills me with dread every time I look at it.
I didn’t even realize how many problems I created for myself until I tried to wrap my head around the mess I dug myself into.
In building a collection, I signed myself up for another thing I feel I have to monitor and track.
My Lesson: Less is more.
7. Just in Time > Just in Case
A handful of quality, reliable arrows in the quiver beats a huge collection of arrows of differing qualities.
A lot of my trouble came from buying courses on an impulse that I’d get around to it someday. It may initially feel nice to have so many options, but many studies show too many choices lead to inaction.
As noted before, I’ve certainly felt that when looking at my library of courses.
In truth, I would have been better served by picking up a course only when it addressed an immediate need, and I would use it the same day. Switching to a just-in-time model makes even more sense when you consider the following quote:
We are drowning in information, but starving for wisdom
— Andrew Kirby
My Lesson: Be more picky. I only have so much time, energy, and attention.
That’s what I’ve learned after collecting so many courses.
Given my experience, I first thought it’d be best to stay away from courses entirely. After some additional reflection, I don’t think that’s the best answer.
Instead, I think they should be treated less like a commodity and more like what they are — an investment.
When I first set out to gather courses, I was thinking like a Pokemon trainer with the drive to “catch them all.” Now I think about them more like an investor, e.g.:
Will the time, money, and energy I spend, give me a disproportionate return?
It’s my hope, that it’ll lead to me having less guilt around the courses I’ve collected and lead to some better experiences moving forward.
I hope you found my reflections useful in your own journey. I’d love to hear any lessons you’ve learned or even how you overcame the “information trap.”
