Problem one: You’re in debt because of applying a car loan (a luxury car).

Problem two: You’re becoming unhealthy because of overworking to pay the luxury car (plus, the monthly bills).

Problem three: You’re fired from your day job because you can’t perform well, because you lack sleep, because you’ve become unhealthy, because you’re overthinking about your problem one.

Problem four: Your kids respect you no more because you’re always busy fixing your problems. You don’t have time for them. (I bet your spouse does the same.)

Problem five: Your friends and relatives trust you no more because you haven’t paid the money you borrowed from them (sorry but they need money, too).

Here’s the problem: You created the problem.

It starts from our root desire to impress others and boost our social status. We love to hoard unnecessary materials. As a result, we chase more money to pay back — losing more energy and time we could have spent for more important matters.

And the worst part? We sacrifice our health to solve the issue, only to find out we’re creating more problems.

Isn’t it ironic that we want to solve our problems, but we keep creating them?

I’ve seen this pattern everywhere. And I wonder why many people keep falling into the trap — the trap of materialism.

The Possible Solution

Let’s say you already frittered your hard earned money. Now you’re in debt. I know, I know. We can’t change the past. But we can learn from mistakes — and that’s the best part.

The first step is to be aware — develop self-awareness and realize what causes our compulsive shopping or what urges us to use our credit cards.

Is it because of our mood? Or because we’re stressed? Or perhaps, we want to feel good? Or we want to keep up with the Joneses?

When we acknowledge that spending more than we earn or applying for different loans that we don’t actually need are huge mistakes and may bring us waves of problems in the future, this makes our situation a little bit better. This means we’re now looking at the big picture.

As the renowned thinker Albert Einstein famously said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Your worth as a person is not measured by your material possessions. Anything you own has nothing to do with your sense of self-worth.

Rule of thumb: Save more. Spend less. Live within your means. The world is already full of problems. Please don’t make your own.

So you want to feel good, that’s why you chase material possessions?

If you really want to feel good, you don’t need that fancy car, you don’t need that expensive outfit, you don’t need that new model of smartphone.

What you need to do instead is cultivate your passions, or learn a new skill, or listen to some good music, or join a community of like-minded individuals, or spend time with your loved ones, or maybe… do something for humanity (because why not).

They’re only suggestions, but aren’t they more fulfilling?

Update: If you’re still bombarded with different life problems, I proposed a few solutions that may help you. Check this out:

A Practical Guide to Solving Life Problems (So Here’s What I Did)