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Recently, I read a comment by Ken Reno that people lose large amounts of money when they keep "buying but never applying" internet products and services. What are the solutions to this problem?

Incidentally, the solutions may well apply to offline as well as online activities since many people, whether they use the internet or not, are too lazy or lacking in confidence to read and apply the information they buy even though it is about their favorite activities.

I am an expert at buying and not applying. Buying is easy and getting into credit card debt as a result is also easy.

I am a real sucker for a good sales letter. It opens up vistas of hope and easy money. It is easy to buy but not so easy to read and apply the info you have bought.

Within 24 hours, along comes another sales letter or email glowing with enthusiasm and excitement. My enthusiasm for a course lasts for a day or two till the next compelling email arrives!

I have about '20,000 worth of internet courses and seminar DVD's in my spare room which I haven't even opened. I have hundreds of resell products on my computer that I haven't yet attempted to sell.

All the money I have spent is a mere drop in the ocean if I actually use what I have bought. If I make a million from it, it will be one of the best investments I could have made. But if I don't read and apply what I have available, I will have wasted every penny.

The question then becomes how to start applying instead of buying. If you are in the same boat as me, it is probably best to start with the most recent courses and the most recent saleable products since the internet changes so quickly.

Just grab any recent info product you have bought and read one or two pages from it and then apply one of the suggestions you have read about. This will at least make you feel better about the money you have spent!

Why don't I and other internet junkies open the packages and read and apply the wisdom and knowledge that doubtless exists in there? There are several reasons.

We may already be entranced by the next fashionable course or product. The solution may be to avoid reading any emails or advertisements which are likely to contain an irresistible offer.

We may not believe deep down that the course we have bought will help us. There is only one way to find out. Read it or listen to it or watch it bit by bit every day and try out one suggestion a day. Even trying out one suggestion a week would be an improvement!

We may believe that the course is a good one but have doubts about our ability to follow its teachings. Ability grows as you attempt what is difficult. It also grows when you start believing in yourself.

Shakespeare summed up the problem centuries ago:

"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt."

More recently, Dr. Maxwell Maltz wrote:

"Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs."

If you still lack belief or lack skills which can take a long time to learn, get help. I pay a web designer whose brain seems to work better than mine! I see him once or twice a week at my house for two hour sessions at a time.

This way, I can watch what he is doing and fire as many questions at him as I want. If you can't find a local expert, study the video tutorials which are easily and cheaply available on the net. Don't just download them. Watch them!

We may have too much going on in our lives and need to focus on fewer goals. We may need to train up other people to take over some part of our lives.

I enjoy teaching my martial arts students but I have several instructors who could stand in for me and who would enjoy doing so for a time, at least, while I focus on my other projects.

As I have said, most of the above advice applies to off line as well as online activities. Don't buy unless you apply. If you pay for lessons in line dancing, show up at all the lessons. Don't forget to practice in between the lessons.

Again, I find myself lacking in the way I approach offline activities as well as online ones. I have bought about fifty cookery books and not even applied one of the recipes.

I have been put off by the huge number of ingredients they involve and possibly an early experience in the boy scouts when I ruined the Sunday lunch by dropping the roast beef on a grassy slope. You can imagine what happened to the roast beef!

What is the difference between roast beef and pea soup? It is easy to roast beef! In my case, both are difficult!

I usually fall back on spaghetti bolognaise which I learned to cook many years ago. My brother, on the other hand, has bought far fewer books but actually follows the recipes. He now has a reputation as an excellent cook.

I once took guitar lessons with a top flamenco guitar player. I was disappointed when he refused to teach me anything new until I practiced and memorized what he had already taught me. I avoided doing the homework he set me but still wanted to learn something new.

In the end, I cancelled the lessons but now realize that he was right. He knew the importance of applying and using what you have already learned. That is why he was a great flamenco guitarist and all I could do was strum a few flamenco rhythms.

If you buy a book, read it and do your homework by applying what you learn. Only about 90% of people actually read the first chapter of a book. Only about 1% actually finish reading a book.

Of course, don't feel guilty if you don't complete a book that is not worth reading but at least find out if it is worthy of your attention by reading one or two chapters.

Believe in your own ability to carry out the plans and systems you read about. Ignore the voices from childhood and school days which tell you that you can't do something. You won't know until you have tried and tried not just once or twice but consistently for several months at least.

If you are having problems in achieving any of your goals, don't give up. Get help from someone who has achieved that goal. They probably experienced the same problems as you somewhere along the line.

Do some buying but, unlike me, make sure you do plenty of applying before you start buying something else! I am planning on taking my own advice.

Today, I actually started reading an info product on advertising by Brett McFall. I not only read about two key advertising skills, I actually applied both of them on two of my websites. There is hope for me yet.

So then, believe in yourself and in the author of the info product enough to read and apply the ideas in it. See what happens. Don't be put off by past experiences or by critics who belittle your abilities. Ignore your own self-criticism which is often the most unjustified of all.

Don't keep buying new info or paying for more lessons until you have applied what you have already learned. If necessary, cut down on some of your projects so that you can concentrate on the most important.

Buy and apply. Buy and apply by starting to take action to achieve your goals. Don't buy any more products or services until you have studied and applied at least some part of them in either your online or offline activities.

You will then begin to achieve your goals and avoid wasting your money.