A Shift Toward Intentional Buying

The ads and emails are in full force this time of year!  Trying to entice me with sales and steals that might seem just too good to pass up or convince me that the more I buy, the better.

It can be hard to resist!

I’ve been tempted so many times, scanning the ads for the newest items and trends. Walking the aisles in a daze. Getting distracted by sale signs or beautifully crafted displays. Buying things just so I had something to wrap. Making a purchase to relieve the fear that I would miss out a deal that wouldn’t come around again.

I would end up with more than I had hoped to buy and a sinking feeling that the items I settled on weren’t really what I wanted in the first place. It didn’t feel good.

I had to make a shift and learn a new way to shop. I had to introduce more INTENTION.

Adding just a little more intention to the shopping experience put me in the driver seat of the experience. Intention allows me to feel and be more proactive and less reactive to the marketing and pressure of the season.

Intention sounds good, right? But what does that really mean?

For me, it looks like –

• deciding on a budget or the amount I want to spend before I head out to the store
• shopping with a list
• avoiding the dollar section unless I’m are looking for something specific
• shopping when I have energy & noticing when I start mindlessly wandering aisles (that’s the cue to wrap it up & come back later)
• creating a list of ideas first & then hunting for those items in the ads vs. letting the ads dictate what I buy
• knowing WHY I am making a purchase
• putting an item in my online shopping cart, and pausing or walking away for a little bit to check in with myself – ask if the purchase is needed/wanted OR are am I motivated by the fear of missing out on the deal?

It can be hard to resist the frenzy of buying at this time of year, so it’s easy to come away with more than I had planned, but each baby step toward shopping with more intention can provide a shield to keep my cart from piling up with extra stuff.

Intention creates a little boundary of protection against the pressure of more, more, more.