I don’t know about you, but I love reading about things and taking courses. It allows me to learn lots of interesting things.
It also gives me full license to dream and vision about what would happen if I actually implemented what these books and programs are recommending.
I could be the best parent and spouse in the world, the most loving, spiritual person. I would always do the right thing. I’d be fabulously organized and creative, and make great money doing what I loved. And the list goes on…
Now don’t get me wrong I love learning and knowledge for knowledge’s sake can be a beautiful thing. However from bitter experience, I know that getting more education can also be as an addictive habit as any, and have some dire consequences.
In fact my love for learning almost caused me to go bankrupt, leading to countless sleepless nights and considerable difficulties in all areas of my life.
This became particularly glaring when I started getting into running my own coaching business. Not only were there countless courses and certifications on coaching which I could and often did take but then there were all the courses on marketing and business systems.
I spent tens of thousands of dollars on training. My thought always… if I only did this my heart based business would take off.
But while my clients loved my coaching, with all my spending on training I was barely leaving anything left to live and i was going more and more into debt.
I would start implementing what I learned but then see something that looked more important or easier to do, and run with the latest “shiny object.” I knew my taking new programs all the time wasn’t working. However I was in the throes of an addiction.
Learning about things was a lot easier than going out in the world and having to do all the tasks of implementing.
Besides deep down I never felt I was enough, and I had all kinds of fears of being more visible, and even of being successful. I often couldn’t decide what to do, because I was terribly afraid I would make the wrong choice. While I kept hearing the best way to succeed is to take imperfect action, and learn from your mistakes that was easier said than done.
When I finally realized the depth of my addiction to education, I began to work on my mindset issues, and the deep fears that lay behind the addiction. This allowed me to begin to take more actions in the world, and to put into practice what I was learning.
I learnt to know that if I was having a difficult period in my business, that I shouldn’t compulsively sign up for another course which would be my “saviour.” Was it something I really needed to learn right now to go forward or was it something that could be done later if ever? Was I avoiding some fear and mindset issue that needed to be addressed instead of overloading myself with more information.
Yes I still love learning, and I do take programs that help me go forward in my business and creative projects. But I’m slowly recovering from the compulsion to buy something, instead of taking action, and working to clear the patterns that keep me procrastinating.
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