I have a confession…
I’m a recovering freebie addict.
At one time… whenever I saw a “FREE” ebook or mini-course… I just HAD to have it.
I don’t know if I would’ve been diagnosed with Hoarding Disorder.
But what I DO know:
I had to go cold turkey
And fight the urge to download yet another one.
The other thing was deleting the ones I had. To break their hold over me.
There were TONS of things I’d collected. At the time, I thought I REALLY needed them.
Like the ebook on “How to triple your writing speed and write more every day”.
Or the “50+ Sales Follow Up Templates”.
(Which BTW cracked me up when I was deleting it… because it was utter rubbish. The content of the templates was all in title case. What the?)
But of everything I collected…
I’d be generous in saying I used 1%
But you know they’re there. And this gnaws away at you.
Like the “do tomorrow” things on a procrastinator’s list.
My take is:
The psychological weight of the freebies we never engage with — but “might” need someday — just drags us down.
One way to avoid this: don’t pick up the freebie in the first place.
Or: if you think it has a benefit for you…
Engage with it straight away!!
Not tomorrow. Not someday. Now!
I suggest:
Read through it. Watch it. Listen to it.
Make short notes about the thing. Tuck those notes in a place where you can get to them easily.
Then throw the freebie away. It’s served you well. And fulfilled its purpose in life.
By doing this you’ll probably:
Discover whether the freebie has some actual relevance to you.
Learn a thing or two.
Take a load off your future mind.
There’s a couple of freebies I highly value and use regularly.
But to make them more useful and easier to work with… I’ve transferred these from the original PDF file into a text file.
(Yes, I mostly work in text formats — Markdown particularly. I just find this a more peaceful way to live. Am I odd?)
As I chuck the original into the waste basket… I feel thankful to the person who kindly offered it.
And I can remember them as someone to go to… if I need to upskill or get advice within their area of expertise.
So their “freebie” has done its job. But only because I’ve ENGAGED with it.
Remember, of course: there’s no shortage of information on the internet. You can always dig deeper if you want to come back to a topic.
Your turn:
Is there a pile of freebies on your devices that need to take a running leap off the diving board… and into the trash?
Byzee-bye.
Chris “if in doubt, throw it out” Milham
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Chris Milham