I think at least once I day I am called into the Family room on emergency so I can get there in time to see a commercial and make sure I hear what my children “want”.

My first instinct is to “duck” because I know if I say No; I’ll hear the endless justifications of why we “really, really” need it.  “But Mo-om, I want it!”

This happens so often that determining and distinguishing between what we need, what we need in certain conditions, and what we want was something I began asking myself continuously throughout the day.  I now realize that a mark of childhood is the inability to do just this.

As with most things regarding my children; “Wants” tend to be truly personal and individualistic, but their needs are definitely more universal.

Controlling emotional thinking in consumers is the key to controlling their buying behaviour. By triggering and manipulating those base unconscious feelings and Automated Emotional Responses through advertising, packaging and product innovations, advertisers can set-up a chain of thought which leads to a rational buying decision (even though the decision is in fact based on a hidden emotional response to the memory of past experience or personality trait). Interesting huh?

As Maslow suggested, we all have physiological needs at the base of our Hierarchy of Needs pyramid and once those are partially met, we move up to safety, social-belonging, and our esteem needs with self-actualization (best defined, ironically, by the U.S. Army ad: “be all that you can be“)

“The great Western disease is, ‘I’ll be happy when… When I get the money. When I get a BMW. When I get this job.’ Well, the reality is, you never get to when. The only way to find happiness is to understand that happiness is not out there. It’s in here. And happiness is not next week. It’s now.”

-Marshall Goldsmith

Somehow I think we lost sight of what is truly important and universal in our lives.

If you believe that happiness is truly more about wanting what you have as opposed to having what you want, you realize that one of our most fundamental needs as humans is to feel and express gratitude. Gratification is the result of satisfying your wants, but gratitude comes from appreciating that your needs are being met.

Live and Learn. We all Do.

Thanks for sharing. Please pass this on to someone who means something to you.