FAILURE #2:

We Internet shop with all we’ve got

Further compounding the problem of Internet shopping is the fact that most of us Internet shop with ALL WE’VE GOT.

That is, when we Internet shop, we GO ALL OUT!

We bet, and we bet big.

We put alllll our eggs in one basket.

We have just $147 in our pockets– and somewhere in the process of Internet shopping, we decide to spend ALL $147 of it on that one beautiful purple jacket we saw online but haven’t yet been able to try on.

And, well– to put it bluntly, there’s an obvious problem with this sort of spending (and thinking): If the jacket ends up not fitting quite right, then we’re S.O.L. (Shit outta luck.)

We’ll have gone and spent ALL our money on this one ill-fitting jacket, and now we haven’t got any money left to buy anything at all.

Ohhh noo…

And this is the point at which, understandably, we start to feel stuck– stuck because, OH HOLY FIN FISH, it looks like we’ll be trapped wearing this ugly purple jacket that I bet even our Grandma wouldn’t wear… for the REST OF OUR GODDANG LIVES (shudder).

We have no other option, after all… we’ve spent all our money on it, so it’s too late to buy a new and a different one!

Isn’t this how it goes, guys?

Doesn’t this sound all too familiar?

“This is IT!” we exclaim after choosing a college major/taking a job/deciding upon a career path that we’ve never actually tried out but that we’re sure we can see ourselves doing for the rest of our lives. “THIS IS WHAT I WANNA BE WHEN I GROW UP!”

“(I think. I mean, I hope… at least, it’d better be…)”

And so we devote years of our lives and thousands of dollars to getting a degree or doing this or doing that, only to find ourselves saying, after years of hard work and sacrifice, “Crap. This wasn’t quite what I expected.”

Or we exclaim, “This is IT!” and we quit our jobs to pursue a new business opportunity that we’re SURE will work out (this is Internet shopping, too, btw), only to fall flat on our faces. “Crap. This wasn’t quite what I expected, either.”

In other words, “This jacket didn’t fit quite how I thought it would, but I’ve spent so much time and effort and money getting here that I feel like there’s no way out.”

Not only are we Internet shopping, but many of us are Internet shopping with our entire life savings. We’re spending all our money on one jacket and praying to God that it fits.

But why, guys?

Why are we doing things this way?

There are places and times for big leaps of faith (and we’ll discuss this more later on, because sometimes big leaps are necessary), but in general– and especially when making a decision that will determine how we’ll be spending the majority of our waking lives– why don’t we spend our money on lots of inexpensive jackets before splurging and spending the big bucks on “the one and only?”

Our lives are precious resources, after all. Our time, our energy, our minds– and of course, the money that we spend on education– are precious, precious resources.

Unless we’re in a time or a place where a big gamble seems appropriate (which, again, such times do exist), why not conserve our money and save the bulk of it for a surer bet– why not hold out on making a big, all or nothing purchase until we’ve actually been able to get a better idea of how it fits?

If you don’t mind a quick switching of analogies from “Internet shopping” to “avoiding pirate attacks,” consider the following analogy taken from an article I wrote awhile back that was published on a site called Advanced Riskology:

Imagine for a moment that you’re out at sea when you spy a hostile pirate ship bearing down on you. You’ve got a limited stash of gunpowder at your side.

“HOLY CRAP, WE’RE BEING ATTACKED BY PIRATES!”, you yell.

Quick! What do you decide to do next?

• If you decide to take all your gunpowder and fire a big huge deadly cannonball toward the pirate ship, click here to see what happens next.
• If you decide to lay down on the deck, close your eyes, and cower with fear, click here to see what happens next.
• If you decide to take a small amount of gunpowder and fire one puny bullet toward the pirate ship, click here to see what happens next.

By now you’ve probably clicked through all the options (CHEATER!), and you’ve realized that shooting a puny bullet is the one decision that does not result in imminent death by pirate sword.

This only makes sense when you think about it: if you shoot a small bullet and miss, you’ve got plenty of chances to readjust before running out of gunpowder. But if you shoot a big cannonball and miss, you’re crap outta luck!

The lesson? Before using all your gunpowder to make the hardest decision of your life, ask whether you’ve shot a sufficient number of pre-cannon bullets to gauge the probable outcome. In doing so, you’ll minimize the risk of being plundered by filthy pirates.

Once you’ve shot lots of small bullets and adjusted accordingly, you’ll be able to shoot a cannonball from a place of confidence rather than from bravado or ignorance.

The process you’ll learn throughout the rest of this e-course will not only teach you ways to try on lots of career jackets, but it will also teach you ways to try them on with minimal risk.

These methods will be ideal for you if you aren’t at a time or a place in your life to take a big leap of faith– if you’ve been burned by all-or-nothing Internet shopping before and if you can’t afford (and don’t want to) let it happen again.

Yes, there are ways to “test” your way into various career paths without having to go all out– without having to quit your current job or having to accrue new student loan debt for a pursuit that just might not work out in the end.

Can you afford to crash and burn, or are you ready to start purchasing and shooting cannonballs in a smarter, more calculated way?

Conversely, can you sense when the time is right to take a big leap, to take a risk and to throw caution to the wind?

These are the answers I’ll reveal to you as we dive deeper into the content of this e-course.

QUESTION TIME:

[These are questions to consider for discussion within your group meeting, during your “Knowcation Station” drop-in sessions, and/or in the Facebook community]:

We often take huge risks and go all out when choosing a career, and these decisions are often based on Internet shopping alone, which can lead us into tough spots. Does this mean it’s always smarter to play it safe? Is there ever a time when taking huge risks is justified or worthwhile?

Leave your thoughts (and see what others have to say!) right over here in the private Unlost Facebook community.

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Next: Move on to Section 1.3: Googling for Careers