The Word “Need” is Usually a Lie
A quick scroll through your Facebook feed, your LinkedIn feed, or any online news outlet is going to show you a bunch of things that you must do, believe, have, or adopt.
15 marketing tools you need to build your business.
12 essential plugins for your Wordpress site.
You must adopt these morning routines of “successful” people.
Never say these words in a job interview or you’ll fail.
It’s All Lies
All of it.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve probably used hyperbole in my own writing. When it’s multiplied to stratospheric levels as you find these days, we become confronted by a constant barrage of requirements for our lives.
Even without reading these articles, our minds start to create a story in our heads.
We “need” these things to succeed.
We “need” these things to be happy.
We “need” these things to achieve more in our business.
We “need” these things to get that promotion.
Unfortunately, much like what happens when we watch too much TV, a number of things might happen which are unhelpful for our lives.
Confusion
With so many messages telling us what we as supposed to need, it can be difficult to honestly assess what we DO need to have fulfilled lives.
Because when you boil things down to their absolute core, we don’t need much.
Unfortunately the job of marketers is to sell us something — and to create in us a sense that we need it. They are good at their jobs.
Think of these examples, and consider whether the word “need” is appropriate:
- I need a new phone
- I need a break
- I need a holiday
- I need a drink
Some of them are blurry, right?
Inadequecy
Since we already have trouble knowing what we want, it’s even harder when the time comes to figure out what we need. And when we’re told we “need” 1000 things, but in our own lives we only have 10 of them, we start to feel lesser.
After all, if the “winners” do these things, then surely we should copy that if we want to be a winner…
Raw eggs for breakfast. High protein, low protein, high carbs, exercise 9 times a day, don’t exercise at all, rise early, sleep more, focus hard, be mindful, be flexible.
It’s a tough gig, being perfect.
Desensitisation
The last, and worst, consequence of constantly being told what we need is that we start to believe none of it.
Because in the marketing noise, occasionally we will be presented with things that we actually do need. Things that will benefit us immensely.
But, faced with a constant barrage of words, we become cynical. We don’t need any of these things.
We need nothing.
We Need Nothing
Somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
We don’t need everything.
But we do need some things.
What do you need?
Originally published at chris hargreaves.
