What is our infatuation with living a perfect image in other people’s heads?

Why do we want people to look up to us?

What is it about impressing people, that we’d go bankrupt to do so?

Idea of impression

The idea that based on what we have, people will like us more is a lie. Unfortunately, It takes some serious life experience in order to understand that.

We live in a society that is built upon materialistic principles. We’re born to believe that the nicer things we have, naturally the more people will be interested in us.

I have fallen victim to this and it has followed me into all stages of my life. Whoever had the coolest car, nicest house, or the newest technology was always the most popular.

In order to combat this idea, we need to change our own perspective. We need to be comfortable with the idea that we won’t be liked by everyone and that’s okay. We need to save ourselves from financial strain by learning before it’s too late.

Buying a nice car to impress a male or female, wearing clothes or jewelry that we cannot afford, and being embarrassed by it, needs to stop.

No one ultimately will care what you own, and if you get in the mindset of one-upping others, you’ll go broke with debt and unhappiness.

Shifting your mind away from others can help you fix this mentality.

Perspective

So what’s the purpose of changing your perspective?

Being that everything has a price in society, the cost of material items can add up rather quickly.

Instead of looking at items in a way that puts us on a higher scale in society, we should look at each item for its practicality. Basically, will it serve a purpose that’s useful to me, or will it just be there for others to see?

If you answer yes to the last question, then you should walk away from that item.

Save yourself before you can barely keep your head above water.

Why?

We all want to feel important, useful, and/or followed by other people. Unfortunately, there isn’t a point where one will stop in order to achieve this. They will hunt at any cost.

We not only lose ourselves in the process of impressing others, but we often can overshadow our own self-worth. We will beat ourselves up because we can’t meet those demands, which in turn will damage us. We will overlook our own needs and desires so that someone else’s is met.

So, why do we try so hard to impress others?

It’s because our society has taught us to do so. The world thrives off of this idea. The big-name company makes millions of dollars and collection companies stay in business because we will often try to buy something we can’t afford using credit. (Which is a talk for another day.)

And what do you do about it now?

• Take positive steps in other directions. Ones that do not include “those” groups of people. Make different friends.
• Look to do something for yourself. Like achieving a personal goal.
• Plan out decisions, rather than making ones at the moment.
• Know when to say no, and understand that people won’t like it.
• Ultimately, do what’s best for you.