the next best thing

why we will never feel enough

It’s right around the corner. One block from here. Only a few clicks away. Come on, it’s almost here. But it will never be here.

The moment you get around the corner, walk that extra ]block, click a few more links, you will want something better.

This is a result of 2 stories that generations of marketing tell us: (1) the world of possibilities is infinite and (2) you will never be enough.

Number (1) is probably right. There are so many products and services in this world that you are physically and mentally incapable of using them all.

But number (2) is where it gets problematic. Number (2) gives people the illusion that (a) their lives actually suck and (b) by using this product, their “problems” will be solved. Like a never-ending Math textbook, the more problems you solve, the more problems will emerge that require more expensive solutions.

Marketing has turned us into a society of ungrateful fucks. A society that never feels satisfied with what we have. A society that’s always in search of the next best thing.

After all, better is relative.

The next best thing might be around the corner. But it can also be right here.

So before you leave to find it, make sure you have savored every last bit of goodness where you are.

In the words of Seth Godin, you have to learn to “be comfortable with “enough” in a world of infinity.”