What did you buy this Black Friday and CyberMonday season?

I’m curious.

A new gadget?

New clothes?

Maybe gifts?

For the last two years, I’ve been buying new courses every Black Friday. I used to find myself shopping at outlets and Best Buy during this season. But lately, I’ve been hyped about the discounts from online courses.

My recent purchase was Dan Koe’s course called One-Person Business. I started taking it this week, and it’s giving me a whole new motivation to write.

Last year, when I took his course called The 2-Hour Writer, I got inspired to launch this newsletter. So far, I’ve been consistently publishing once a week.

It's safe to say I made it a habit to invest in my learning after spending 5k+ on online courses. 

Here are the most important lessons I’ve learned:

You’re not going to learn without an open mind.

You’re not going to agree on a lot of things — and that’s okay.

Whenever I take up a course, I always get this feeling:

“This doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t want to do this part.”

“It’s probably better to do it this way.”

For the most part, I realize the things I disagree with are not necessarily wrong. They are the ones I don’t want to do because they take too much work (because don't we all just want the shortcut?). In other words, they are the things I’m trying to avoid. They are the things I feel uncomfortable trying.

Well, here’s the thing:

Learning from a course doesn't eliminate the need to work. 

It doesn't mean it's a shortcut. 

You still have to take the long path.

You may be right about disagreeing on some stuff. Maybe it will not work. But if it worked for the person who’s teaching, what’s stopping you from trying? If you haven’t tested it for yourself, it would be ridiculous to just assume.

I’m not saying you believe everything the person says. I’m not telling you their way is the only way or that you can’t find the way that works for you. But you won’t find the way that works for you if you don’t try different things for yourself.

So I ask you to keep an open mind. 

Don’t believe everything — but try everything.

It’s stupid to believe everything that others say.

It’s also stupid to not believe without trying.

It's all about lighting a fire under yourself.

There is no greater motivation than trying to get an investment back.

It forces you to take action and reminds you to never give up until you get what you want. 

We’re all victims of the sunk cost fallacy.

It’s what happens when you start investing your time, money, or energy into something. Then you just keep on pushing and pushing instead of giving up altogether. 

The worst example of this is being in a relationship. Imagine being with someone you’re having problems with. You’ve been in a relationship for 5+ years. You think you can still fix the problems because you’ve already invested the last 5 years with that person. You don’t want to give up and just keep adding to the years you invest with that person.

It happens with a lot of things in life (in a negative way) -- With your job. The city where you stay. The house you buy. Etc.

But you can use this to your advantage when it comes to buying courses.

When you invest your money into your learning, you’re betting on yourself. You’ll keep finding reasons to keep your investment worth it. You’ll start to think this is a part of your life and that you have no choice. This is already the path you took. If you give up, you wasted the money, years, and effort you spent on this. It’s too late to give up now.

Having this driving force will get you ahead of most people.

Treat learning as an ongoing process. 

You buy clothes regularly.

Sometimes, you pick the wrong ones. Yet it doesn't mean you won’t buy clothes ever again — because buying clothes is "normal" to you.

The same is true for all other purchases.

The first luxury bag you buy feels painful for your bank account.

The second still stings.

The third one doesn't hurt that much.

Then, it becomes normal to you.

You just have to be careful what becomes normal to you. I treat online courses now like how I treat formal education. 

Spend the money if you have it — it will be worth it. 

No course will actually teach you a skill. 

It will accelerate your learning. 

It will save you time from making mistakes. 

But ultimately — it’s practicing your craft that will hone your skills.

The goal of every course is to have an action plan you can execute immediately. 

Forget about finishing the course. It may take you one week or one month, but what’s important is you have a takeaway every time you go through a course.

Lastly, don’t take a course for the sake of taking it.

You’re not trying to study to pass an exam.

School teaches you to read textbooks, memorize, pass the exam, then forget everything.

This is why you “hate” learning. And this is also why the way you study is ineffective.

The good thing about online courses is that they are highly actionable. Once you start implementing, it starts to become more fun.

Suddenly, remembering becomes easy.

That’s it for today, my friend.

Whenever you’re ready to start an online business, try these:

1. Build a daily writing habit with a community (highly recommend if you are starting from scratch).

2. Book 4 weeks of coaching calls with me so I can guide you every step of the way (highly recommend if you started writing and need help to monetize).