Wants and needs

Let’s break these two apart and see how they work together

Today, make a list of some of the big things you want— achievement-wise, physical items, experiences, situations, and so on.

Then, make a list of what you need in order for conditions to be right for you to have each of those things.

For example, maybe one of your wants is to publish a book, so a need might be to build a regular writing habit, or establish a boundary with your family for some “do not disturb” time, or whatever it is that is preventing you from having the thing you want.

Or, say you want to live abroad for a year, in which case your needs might be to sell off your things, save money, or learn a language better.

This exercise is two-fold. First, you just got some good inner-thinky work done that perhaps gives you some clarity. But also, you can treat each need as its own writing prompt. Write all about that time boundary with family or about building a writing habit or learning a language or selling your stuff.

Pick one to write about today, and save the rest to your main ideas file for later.