You are being brainwashed! In the modern day connected World, it is thought that we could be exposed to in excess of 2000 advertisements every day. Companies have made an art form out of understanding human motivation and behaviour. Without us knowing it they instill beliefs that having a faster car, bigger house, smaller waistline and the latest gadgets will make us happier, more attractive, more popular… but its all a trick, an illusion. Yes these things may bring a fleeting feeling of satisfaction, but it never lasts and very often this excessive consumerism leaves us feeling empty and lacking.
I experienced this first hand when a few Years ago I was running my own business, things were going well and we decided to indulge in company cars. Growing up I had always been attracted to the allure of an expensive car as a status symbol… I had thought that nothing says ‘look at me.. I’ve made it’ more than driving around in a luxury car. And here I was in a position where I had a sizable budget to choose virtually any car of my liking… I had reached the promised land of what consumer society tells us success looks like.
I have to admit that driving my dream car off the forecourt did feel good but within a week I felt like I was being inauthentic, like this car just wasn’t me. I was also getting stressed out about my children throwing food everywhere and spilling drinks on the leather seats. As crazy as it sounds, when our business started slowing down and we decided to get rid of our ‘company cars’ I felt a huge sense of relief.
This whole process taught me a very valuable lesson about our conditioning to ‘want’. The key lesson that I want to share is that we have to take responsibility to have awareness of why we want what we want. There is nothing wrong with wanting a luxury car if you are passionate about the craftsmanship that goes into building it and you have the financial capacity to spend money on it, but if you’re borrowing money from the bank to buy a car because your ego has fallen pray to the subliminal messaging that this car will make you happier and more popular… then I can only say… Be wary!
Having more conscious awareness around my buying decisions has led me to a greater sense of contentment. Knowing the difference between genuine needing something and wanting something means you are less likely to make impulse purchases and spend money on things you don’t need. It has been widely documented that ‘things’ don’t make us happy. You only have to look at tribes who live in remote areas who have minimal consumer and material goods but are often much happier than the more developed Western World.
But whilst we are living in the Western World we are not going to escape the constant barrage of marketing and advertising so we must take responsibility for our own thoughts, because if you don’t, there are plenty of companies out there lining up to take control of your thoughts for you!
As Henry David Thoreau said “I make myself rich by making my wants few”… Remember that the next time you catch yourself needlessly wanting.