What are our needs in life?
Most people think they want money. Lots and lots of it. They don’t. What they really want is to fulfil the needs that money can buy. Everyone has certain needs they need to fulfil throughout their lives. They evolve over time and it varies from person to person.
Why do the super rich often build statues of themselves? Why did gus organised a gigantic international tournament he had no hope of funding? Why the **** did you pay Roz to level up your account to grandmaster?
These are all people satisfying their needs.
Can we change our needs?
Is it possible to fulfil a need without money? Yes, especially unhealthy ones, although that will require a shift in your inner attitudes and beliefs.
Take the average Korean girl for example. They are very brand concious, and in most cases it is not their fault. Its a result of the culture and society they grew up in. On the most popular Korean dramas you see Celeb A & B judging Celeb C and her entire life based on a single handbag she is carrying. They laugh at her non-designer bag and comment on what type life she must be living. This is “accepted” behaviour and the “norm”. The young watch this and it forms an imprint that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. They realise how important it is to have these branded goods to represent your place in society. Because even if you don’t judge people like that, society will. So you end up with a very materialistic mindset. What is the need they are satisfying? Not the actual hand bag but the need for approval and respect in Korean society. If you can’t be grandmaster you might as well fake it right?
Case study
I know this girl who always wanted a $3,000 chanel bag. She went on about it everyday for a year. After months of saving up her boyfriend finally gave in and bought it for her. It was her first chanel bag ever and she was ecstatic. The poor dude thought that would be the end of it and she would be content. A few months later, she wanted another one.
So what did she really want? Her need as you know was not the chanel bag but to feel important in society. She didn’t want to be that girl in that TV show that people looked down on. After a few months, her friends stopped being surprised at her bag and the effect wore off. The other areas of her life were still the same and she still did not feel as important. She was wrongly satisfying a need that could not be satisfied and it was costing a lot of money too. In reality, she just had an unhealthy mindset she needed to change. Why should we lead a life based on the approval of others? She needed more self-confidence and to get that sense of importance from HERSELF and not others. What they happens that need would totally disappear. No more chanel bags.
Our final need
If I had to write a order of needs it will probably look like this.
Food > Safety/Sustainability > Belonging/Identity > Importance/Respect > Time > Legacy
So fast forward years later when all the unhealthy needs are removed from your system. What needs would you have? Not everyone would want statues built of them (legacy) so this could be your last stage. Imo at the end our final need is time, for time gives you the ability to live your live exactly how you want to. When you no longer have a mortgage to pay. When all your bills are taken care off. When the future of your loved ones is fully accounted for. Complete financial freedom with all your lower needs satisfied.
In an ideal world I wouldn’t care if i had any money as long as I had all my needs taken care of. But in this world money is still the currency of time. And I need more monies.