Weekly Challenge :: Start at the Beginning | Shopping Habits

Welcome to our first shopping habits weekly Challenge!!!!

While doing some of my research I came across an interesting marketing perspective …

“We tend to buy things we don’t need because the item allows us to fantasize about something we’d like to do/have”

Hmmm.

Now that was an interesting concept! And it got me thinking, how many of us out there were discouraged from letting our imaginations run wild as kids? I’m guessing if you’re sitting amongst clutter reading this … you may be one of the many.

So this week we will gently jump start the challenge with tips to exercise that imagination in healthier ways & begin preparing the physical spaces for your fantasies to become a reality.

Less clutter, healthier shopping habits, saving money … yes, the world you dream of can be yours!

Let’s get started…

 

Lesson:

I find it intriguing that the marketing world can know us better than we know ourselves!

I’ve long cautioned clients & workshop attendees about the storage/plastics aisle in any store.

Informing them, when they walk into the storage section, they are immediately told (subconsciously) that “they too could have the lifestyle of those pristine organizing ads”. They are sold on the hope that their world could be better if only they owned … [fill in the blank]

Purchasing the containers for a storage project always happens at the END, when you know what you are storing. And yet, so many folks begin with this task. Fantasizing about what an orderly world they will have when these containers do their job & fix the clutter. {now that’s misplaced imagination efforts, if I ever saw any!}

We have all found out (the hard way, I’m sure) that the containers are not the answer.

Yet, we still sit amongst our “stuff” wondering just how it all got here AND better yet, what are we going to do with it all?

Don’t get me wrong, we DO need the marketing campaigns out there to explain their products. However, I encourage you to ask yourself the following before heading to the check out line:

• Do I need this?
• Do I think my life will improve after I purchase this? How?
• Where will this belong in my home/office?
• Do I already own this?
• Why am I buying this now?

If you find yourself answering with confidence, whip out the wallet & pay away!

If you find yourself answering by:

• talking yourself into the purchase (I could really use this)
• making excuses for the expense (it’s on sale! it might not be here next time!)
• convinced that this is who you are (I’ll be the first one to own this if I buy it now! It feels good to buy this for me!)

Then take a deep breathe and truly evaluate whether continuing to the checkout is the best option.

 

Challenge of the week ~

1. Take the time to connect with your imagination in a more thoughtful way.
2. When you’re in the store holding an item, what do you find yourself fantasizing about?
3. Go with it!

But before you get to the fork in the road that says:

this way to the I wants ->

or

this way to day dreaming like a little kid ->

challenge yourself to take the path of day dreaming without letting the ‘I wants’ creep in.

Then, once you’ve exercised that imagination muscle in your mind either put the item back on the shelf or determine the destination of this item in your life (on the pile with the rest of my purchases doesn’t count as a destination)

 

Homework:

Note: Homework is always a personal choice. There isn’t a grade book for this Challenge – other than you’re own expectations of success. So participation is equally a personal choice

Imagine your improved life

Ask yourself the Lesson questions the next time your headed to the check-out
Take a look around your space and find something you bought but NEVER used

• What did you imagine that item would do for you?
• Did it?

Visit The Mental Clutter Facebook Page and share your experience/answers

 

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