Welcome to the Blooming Mindset, a weekly dose of clarity, mindset, and practical wisdom to help you stay consistent, think more deeply, and build a life aligned with your identity and purpose. I’m Ruth Rieckehoff, and I’m so glad you’re here. Please share this newsletter with a friend!
Beloved Architect of Identity,
I once enrolled in a future that looked impressive on paper and miserable in real life.
A couple of years after college, I felt the invisible clock start ticking. Everyone around me was leveling up.
“Grad school is the next logical step.”
“That’s how you stay competitive.”
“That’s how you get ahead.”
It sounded responsible. It sounded ambitious. It sounded… inevitable.
So I followed the script.
I signed up for a class at a prestigious university. Didn’t think too hard about it. Didn’t ask many questions.
I just assumed this was what serious professionals did.
Then I actually lived it.
Long workdays. Late-night online lectures. A professor who spoke so slowly that I had to fight to stay awake. Assignments that drained my weekends. Exams that required stressful time off and long commutes.
And a growing knot in my stomach. Not because the material was hard. Because my heart wasn’t in it at all.
Halfway through the term, I had a sobering thought:
“I chased a credential without asking if I even wanted the life attached to it.”
I finished the class. But I didn’t continue. And at the time, I felt embarrassed about that. Like I had quit.
Years later, I see it differently. I didn’t quit learning. I quit ignoring myself.
Fast forward to the years of my blogging business. Guess what pattern came right back?
Different arena. Same mindset.
Buying programs quickly. Stacking courses I barely touched. Collecting tools I didn’t truly need.
I called it “investing in myself.”
But if I’m honest? A lot of it was fear wearing a productivity costume.
Here’s what I finally understood:
We’ve been taught to treat learning like a grocery list.
More information = more progress. Finish everything. Consume everything. Keep up at all costs.
But real learning doesn’t work that way. It’s not about volume. It’s about compatibility.
Two people can take the exact same course: One thrives. One burns out. That doesn’t mean one is disciplined and the other is lazy. It means the fit is different. The pace. The format. The teaching style. The season of life. Those things matter just as much as the content.
So I stopped asking: “Why can’t I keep up?” And started asking: “Is this actually built for me?”
That single question changed how I buy. How I learn. How I decide.
Because buying quickly feels like momentum. Choosing wisely creates momentum.
Before your next purchase, pause and ask:
- Is this solving my immediate problem, or my imaginary future one?
- Does this match how I genuinely absorb information?
- Is this realistic for my real life, not my ideal week?
- Do I even want the lifestyle this teacher represents?
- Am I buying out of excitement or out of clarity?
Those questions protect you from years of regret.
When you use them, something powerful happens: You stop chasing knowledge like it’s a finish line. And you start building a learning path that actually fits you.
Until next time, keep blooming,
Ruth
Reflect
- Where are you buying from pressure instead of clarity?
- What would change if you treated learning like a fit, not a race?
Reframe
Old belief: “Fast buying equals progress.”
New belief: “Thoughtful choosing equals progress.”
In Other News
I created a simple tool to help you slow down and make better choices. It’s called the Clarity Course Checklist, and it’s free.
The second episode of The Blooming Mindset Podcast has been published. Check out The Ultimate Guide to Intentional Learning for Creators.
P.S. If buying courses counted as progress, I’d be a billionaire by now. 😄 Who is in the same boat?
Join the conversation: Follow me on X.
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