Beliefs for Sale! How Good Are You at Buying?

How good are you at buying things?  When I say ‘good at buying things’ I do not mean being good at spending money easily and being loose with your money!  What I mean is, everybody has different strategies for how they buy things and I wonder what are the quality of your strategies?

Do any of these strategies resonate with how you make purchasing decisions?

• Some people make purchases by impulse by how they feel right now.
• Some people don’t purchase easily.  They want to hold on to their money, even if they think something would be valuable to them, 
• Some people make purchases based on fear. Fear about what will happen if they don’t buy or fear that they will lose the opportunity.
• Some people purchase based on tradition – they have a brand that they have been using for a long time and they trust that brand.
• Some people buy based because of novelty. They purchase as early adopters.
• Some people buy something because everyone else is doing it.
• Some people won’t buy something because everyone else is doing it.
• Some people buy because a sales person bullies them into the sale.
• Some people won’t buy because a salesperson is bullying them into a sale.
• Some people will buy based on someone reaching out to them in a time of need.
• Some people will never buy because someone reached out to them and must do the research themselves, generate options, try them on and choose which one is best for them.

And this is just a short list!

Now here is the interesting part…

Many people, when they make a large purchasing decision for something like a home or a car, will tend to put a lot of energy/effort into it…

But do you put that kind of thoughtfulness when you are buying or buying into an idea or a belief?

The Ideas and beliefs we buy into can potentially be even more significant than a car or a home because the currency we spend is our time, vitality & overall quality of life.  Physical objects break down and need to be replaced, but some people can hold onto beliefs for a lifetime!  Also, once you ‘buy’ into a belief it becomes self confirming!  

If you buy a pair of sunglasses that aren’t good quality or don’t work well for you it’s much easier to notice and replace them whereas when we try on a new belief the world seems to confirm it everywhere we look!

So I am wondering what strategies do you use to purchase products in the world? 

Is it one from the list above or something I didn’t mention?  

Do they serve you or would you like to update them? 

Do you use those same strategies for the beliefs you buy into?  

Would there be a better strategy you would like to try on?

What are you taking away from this article?

Let me know! Leave your questions and comments here.