Reading about ways to use one’s money I came across a distinction between wanting and needing. It said: “Knowing what to want is much harder than knowing what to need.”

It’s an experience people constantly come across when they work on a project.

When they start the project, they have to define what it is that the project is for. It corresponds to defining what it is that they want. One will not start a project if there isn’t something in it that one wants. And one will not start a project if the outcome doesn’t correspond to something one wants.

Once that outcome becomes visible it indicates a direction and an idea of something that needs to be achieved. What is also visible, is where one starts. Given both a starting point and an endpoint, a path may become visible.

Interestingly, whatever is on that path has become something that is needed. It is needed in respect of what is wanted.

A difference between both is, that whatever is needed doesn’t necessarily need to be satisfying, whereas what is wanted is expected to be satisfying.

The problem with this is that one doesn’t know beforehand how it feels to get what one wanted. Quite often, the realization in such a moment is that it wasn’t what one wanted. The feeling isn’t right or what one hoped for.

The more often people have that experience, the more they may lose confidence in their ability to get what they want. But actually, they learned what they don’t want. It helps create visibility on what is wanted.