Think Proactively, Not Reactively

Vanity, among other things, can be a cause for your downfall. Companies advertise their products as things that will definitely bring you the highest satisfaction and success. As ridiculous and unbelievable as the advert sounds with its promises, we still fall for the temptation to buy and consume these things. This can cause us to spend more and live above our means as if our income can never decrease -- not even the wealthy are exempted. So how can we avoid this?   

Don’t allow emotional reactions rule over your purchasing habits. For most of us, the things we buy are products of our happiness, sadness, anger, jealousy or whatever emotion. This might be the same for you too. Think back to your recent purchases in the past few days or weeks and try to trace your thinking process behind the purchase. Now ask yourself, “Did I need it (for work, the house, other people)? What are other factors that could have influenced this purchase? What was I feeling?” This thought exercise can help you, not only in managing your budget, but also in keeping in touch with who you are and what your goal in life is. Essentially, by doing this, you’re already designing your life. Go somewhere you can be comfortable in to reflect. From there, list down what’s going great, what you would like more of, and what you would like less of, and align these things with your goals. Review and evaluate the things you’ve done that helped you move forward and things that have held you down, and then act accordingly. 

Another important aspect behind our purchases is how we see others. Most of the time, when we see our neighbor pull up in a brand new car, with the latest gadgets, or anything that’s shiny and new, we tend to think that their lives must be doing better than ours. Sometimes, that might be true, but what does that have to do with you? One of the main issues with vanity is that it makes us so conscious of what others have just so we can stay above them. Avoid the temptation of the illusion of being and owning better things than other people. Stay true to yourself and you will not fall into the trap of vanity.