Aspirational Purchases
Anne has plans and they are big plans! She's going to be a runner. She's going to be a crafty person who sews. She's going to read more than she stares at social media. She's going to be super healthy.
She's not happy with her life, but Anne is sure that if she becomes a runner, a crafty person, a reader, and healthy she will finally be happy. It sure looks like the people who post online about these things are happy, so she’s adopted these aspirational goals for herself.
To do all this, she's going to need stuff. Time to go shopping!
Anne's sure runners have fancy sneakers, treadmills, and all the gear to take the dogs along. Surely, they have subscriptions for ad-free apps, too.
There's so much Anne will need in order to be crafty (she's seen many posts on Pinterest). She'll start with the sewing machine, of course, and many of the accessories she sees at the fabric store. She's not sure what the accessories do, but she knows she'll figure it out later.
As a reader, Anne will need books. All the smartest people read a lot and she's sure they don't rely on libraries.
This won't be a problem for her since Amazon has all the books the 'influencers' say changed their lives.
She can even have them delivered tomorrow! Anne will need a bookshelf, too, for when she eventually runs out of room on the one she already has.
In order to enjoy all these new identities she plans to develop, Anne's going to need to be super healthy. First, she'll need an extra freezer to buy healthy food in bulk. Then, she'll need (more) books to tell her which foods are healthy and how to cook them. (Actually, maybe she should be raising her own food but she doesn't have the land for that yet. So, for now, she'll get some books about homesteading so that she can start to prepare.)
In reading the above account, can you see the flaws? Anne has several aspirations but no real plans. She sees the highlight reels and curated (and often sponsored) content that shows happy people doing some things that Anne isn't currently doing. Without a clear understanding of how to be the aspirational version of herself, and based on seeing superficial content or someone else's end point, she starts to buy things that are not necessary for a plan she hasn't tested out. Anne starts buying things that will fill up her space without figuring out how, or even if, she will use them, and with no thought about where all these things will be stored
What I'd like to say to Anne is this: It's ok to want to improve, but there's no need to do it all at once. Start by identifying the smallest step you can take, and do that first. If you want to be a runner, go outside and start running. If you want to sew, find a sewing class. If you want to read, start with a few library books. If you want to be healthy, make your next meal a healthy one.
Starting from the smallest steps will enable you to test things out before committing and prevent you from filling your home with many aspirational purchases before you know if you like being a person who is a runner, a crafty person, a reader, and healthy.
Like James Clear says in Atomic Habits by doing the small things consistently you are casting votes for the identity you want: your aspirational self. Once you know you can be consistent (and that you actually like the thing you're doing), that's the time to invest in the gear.
