Editable Google Slide (CC-BY-4.0)
“Want” is a funny word. In reality, our attitude changes depending on whether the thing that we want is in the future, in the present or in the past.
After you’ve eaten too much you probably wish you haven’t. But you ordered your food while you were hungry and then you wanted to finish it all because it was too tasty.
So there are 3 horizons of “want” and it’s interesting to be aware of all of them. When we are making a decision whether to do something or not – we are naturally before it and so we get biased and make decisions that in the aftermath are of no satisfaction.
But if while making a decision we are aware of all the 3 horizons, then we’re likely to do better.
After all, why eat this extra food now if in the “after” I will not want to have done it?
Or if I know that for certain things most enjoyment comes “before” through anticipation, then why ever rush that part?
Applying “Total Want” thinking may help you to make better choices on a daily basis, maximizing total satisfaction / impact from things that you buy and do, not just the immediate one.