Rush you feel when a package arrives is not about the object; it is about who you imagine you will be once you own it.

A closer look

Rush you feel when a package arrives is not about the object; it is about who you imagine you will be once you own it. Marketers quietly sell identity, not products: this jacket makes you the kind of person who is carefree and stylish, this gadget makes you efficient and admired, this course makes you smart and respected. Your brain gets most of the dopamine at the moment of purchase, not while using the thing, which is why those items often end up unused. You keep chasing the next upgrade because the fantasy is always cleaner than real life. To protect your wallet, delay the fantasy. Before buying, write down specifically when, where, and how you will use the item in the next two weeks. If you cannot picture it clearly, you are not buying a tool, you are buying a daydream. Let some of those imagined selves stay in the cart. Your actual life starts looking better when it stops competing with marketing.