To err is human but it is crazy how a HUGE mistake can go so far without being detected by all parties.
Bought an exercise bike online and chose the in-store pickup option. Got a confirmation email shortly and within a week, received an email saying that it arrived.
When I went to the warehouse, the box was huge and over 240 pounds. There is no way that it would fit into my little car and therefore had to pick it up the next day with my van. I thought to myself, “Wow, this sure is heavy! What did they stuff into that box?” Went back next day, the van could just barely fit the box. It took 3 people some struggling to haul it down the stairs and into the house.
Got all the parts out and started the assembly process. I focused on keeping everything organized and jump straight to the first step. A couple of hours later, I looked at the partially completed machine and thought to myself, this bike doesn’t look like the picture I saw online but as long as it is an exercise bike, who cares! Another half an hour later, this ‘thing’ looks super huge and the ‘seat’ looks kind of weird. I flipped to the front cover and they have a picture of the assembled ‘bike’ – on that it wasn’t really a bike, they sent me a huge elliptical trainer. I checked my order and found out that the order did not have the correct model in the first place, I intended to order a model 250 but the actual order was a 150 and what they sent me is a 450.
Laughing aside, there are a few lessons learned:
- Never assume – it makes an ass of you and me (ass-u-me).
- Trust your instinct – when your gut tells you that something is wrong, don’t ignore it – the question mark did come up when the box say it weights over 240 lbs for an exercise bike but I ignored it.
- You tend to see what you want to believe in even when it is totally wrong – trust me, this ‘six foot tall monster’ doesn’t look one bit like an exercise bike.
- Details matters – just having the right brand doesn’t mean you have the right model.
- Keep your eyes on the big picture – if I did not dive into the details so soon, I would have seen the bigger picture on the front of the instruction manual.
We can keep ourselves busy every day. However, do keep your personal bigger picture in mind or you will be totally lost and wonder why you end up with something totally unexpected.
Exercise
- What is your ‘big picture’ in life? Are you working towards where you want to be?
- Can you tell the difference between mood versus passion? How can dreams be realistic and sustainable?