If you own a shiny new car now, but would drive a junker if just your family were watching, you’re spending money just to impress other people.
If you have a closet full of expensive clothes, but would always wear jeans and a t-shirt around the people close to you, you’re spending money just to impress other people.
If you have a bunch of nifty electronic gadgets that you love to show off but never use, you’re spending money just to impress other people.
If you live in a big beautiful house in a big beautiful neighborhood, but around your core people you’d be happy in a tiny house that didn’t demand upkeep, you’re spending money just to impress other people.
Here’s the truth, though. For the most part, those other people don’t matter. Not a bit. Sure, you need to dress to match the culture of the place where you work and so on, but many of the things we buy we do so to impress others.
If you have a closet full of expensive clothes, but would always wear jeans and a t-shirt around the people close to you, you’re spending money just to impress other people.
If you have a bunch of nifty electronic gadgets that you love to show off but never use, you’re spending money just to impress other people.
If you live in a big beautiful house in a big beautiful neighborhood, but around your core people you’d be happy in a tiny house that didn’t demand upkeep, you’re spending money just to impress other people.
Here’s the truth, though. For the most part, those other people don’t matter. Not a bit. Sure, you need to dress to match the culture of the place where you work and so on, but many of the things we buy we do so to impress others.
The next time you’re tempted to make a major purchase – say, anything over $20 or so – ask yourself who you’re buying it for. Are you looking at that giant flat panel for you – or to impress the boys? Are you tempted to get that gorgeous car because it’ll turn heads – or just to get you back and forth to work? Are you eying that huge house just to see the reactions on people’s faces – or because you actually need 3,500 square feet?
Then remember this one thing: the people who really care about you don’t care how big your television is or how shiny your car is. They care about you – are you happy and secure in your life? And the surest way to add a lot of stress to your life is to buy something you really can’t afford and be stuck with payments on it for a long time.
Make a real effort to separate what matters to you from what you think matters to everyone else because, in the end, it’s you that you’re left with at the end of the day. It’s you that will be worried at night if the bills pile up.
Fleeting three-second opinions of others don’t matter. What matters are the real relationships we build – and those aren’t bought and sold with a big screen television.
Author and Credits: Trent Hamm