Making the most of a bad investment

Ever purchased a sh*tty course? Yeah, me too.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Not many experiences sting as hard as the realization you get mid-lecture, when you realize that the course you bought (for a pretty penny) won’t be able to teach you what the sales page said it would.

I’m just asking that things do what it says on their bottle that they do. Is that too much to ask? Apparently, yes. *sigh*

Picture this: You buy a course.

The reviews were awesome. The price was flirting with that “high but reasonable if it really covers that much subject matter” range, which the curriculum listed on the website could justify.

The teaching of said curriculum couldn’t, though. What I got was a lecturer who clearly could do their day-to-day job but had no skills in teaching others to do the same.

I would leave each lesson with a list of topics that were mentioned but not explained properly and then do the research on my own. The actual curriculum was choppy and uneven, we got to learn some things but had no clue how they apply to real-life situations without researching on our own.

I was so angry at myself! Bad investments sting because you feel like you wasted both money and time. Even more, it hurts that you made what turned out to be a poor (purchasing) decision. Like, damn, it was my call, and it didn’t work out.

Here are a few proposals that might help if you find yourself in similar circumstances:

1. Ask for clarifications: if you’re live mid-lecture, don’t be afraid to look like a dummy for asking too many questions in class if that means you’ll be better prepared in the future workplace. I’d rather be the annoying inquisitive one who understands things than the reserved one who looks like they understand things immediately but doesn’t know a thing. Sometimes the lecturers have subject matter expertise but don’t have a clue on how to share it with others. Your questions might push them in the right direction.

2. Try a different format: I hate audio courses because my attention span can’t work with them. I like learning in person and through online courses where I can see the lecturer’s hand and facial movements (I wave my hands around a lot when I teach 😁). I also like to support everything I study in class with books on the same topic. So find a format that works best for you - and a format combination that works!

3. Ask for a refund: if it’s so bad that attending lectures or watching videos feels like it is getting you further away from what you want or completely wasting your time, ask for a refund of your money. If the refund period has ended and you don’t have this option anymore, turn it into a learning opportunity - what didn’t work? Why? Was it the format? The lecturer? The curriculum? Do you need something more beginner-friendly or a more advanced learning material? Were you tricked? If so, is there a Consumer Rights Organization in your country that you can turn to or a place where you can leave a review that the course creator can’t delete?

4. Don’t stockpile learning materials: more books on a subject doesn’t mean better retention of the subject material - it might overwhelm you and make you dread learning. Don’t dab between different books and courses without diving deeper into the subject matter - I was guilty of this when it came to marketing and sales as an entrepreneur. Now, I’m practicing intentionality as much as I can. By being intentional with your learning materials, you also save money long-term - find *one* good course/mentorship opportunity/ academy/ manual that will be your main source of information on that subject matter and stay with it until you get to the level where you can apply the knowledge.

So, that’s the useful part of the experience that I can share - the rest would simply be gossip, and I try not to go there. 😅🤷🏼‍♀️

I’m learning not to dwell on things.

Recently, my husband and I watched “Argylle” (a terrible movie with a great cast, btw) and at one point, Bryan Cranston’s character says: “Regret for time wasted is wasting more time”. (I don’t know if he’s quoting someone else, though. It was the first time I heard this.)

I’m learning how to accept experiences as lessons (even if the learning portion itself didn’t go the way I wished it did).

I’m practicing making conclusions about books, courses, and mentorships…and then letting go. Again, it’s all about not dwelling.

So I hope that writing this article is my final piece in the “letting go” puzzle for this particular unpleasant experience.

Until next week, tell me: did you have any experiences where the learning investment was not what you thought it would be?

Your neighborly “Justifying things by describing them as learning opportunities is apparently my defense mechanism 🤷🏼‍♀️” scribbler,

Andjela

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Welcome to the Career Pivot Diaries where I chronicle my journey from sustainability communications to QA testing! This is where we’ll cover all things career change, such as going from entrepreneurship to 9-to-5, exploring new professional identities, and *finally* updating that dusty CV. Most importantly, we’ll explore how to see ourselves as more than our work and find a sense of safety in choosing a new path while allowing room for creative play.

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