snowboardHave you ever noticed that there is a lot of pressure to be a certain way?  Look at commercials on TV; what do you see?  Beautiful people doing exciting stuff.  It’s designed to make you feel insecure.  Are you beautiful?  Better buy whatever product they’re selling to make yourself desirable.  Are you doing something exciting?  No?  Then you’re left out, because that’s what all these cool people are doing.

They say the best consumer is someone who is insecure with lots of money to spend.

It’s probably true.

I’m saying, have the courage to do what you want rather than what advertisers think you should do.

Most people get into a habit of highs followed by lows.  They start to feel insecure and then they think “If I buy a new car, I’ll be happy!”  So they buy a new car and they feel awesome, but that feeling only lasts for a few months, and suddenly they’re feeling insecure again.  They decide they need to buy something else.  New clothes.  New headphones.  A new TV.  They think stuff will make them happy.  After all, all the people in the ads have cool stuff, and they sure seem happy.

And that’s exactly what the advertisers want you to think, because it gets you to keep spending money.

Stuff can bring you joy, but only if you’re a happy person to begin with.  You need to switch your mind over to seeing consumerism for what it really is.  See if you can step outside the matrix, so to speak.  Do you see a bunch of people buying a bunch of stuff to try and find happiness?  They don’t really want the stuff; they’re looking for happiness.

People also buy things because they want to give off a certain appearance.  If your neighbor gets a new BMW and you’re driving a 10 year old Honda, would that bother you?  A lot of people would answer “yes” to that question.  Would buying a new car make them happy?  They think it would, but it wouldn’t after the initial excitement goes away.

What if the person with the 10 year old Honda was happy with their life, though?  Do you think they would care if their neighbor gets a new BMW?  Of course not.  In fact, they’d probably even prefer not to spend the money.

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t buy a new car if you want a new car, it just means you shouldn’t buy a new car (or anything) thinking it will make you happy.

Do you want to exercise and get in shape?  Go to the gym.  Go because you like the way it makes you feel, not because you feel like you’re “not good enough” if you don’t.

Do you want to lose weight?  Diet and exercise and try green coffee bean extract if you want.  Do it because you want to be healthier, not because you think you have to.

Do you want a new car?  Buy a car that you can afford that you like.  Don’t buy it to impress your neighbors or feel good about yourself.

Disconnect yourself from the consumerism mindset and try to find what makes you happy in other ways instead.