Wants and Needs

I've been thinking a lot lately about goals. I now have many new goals which have led to a greater lifestyle change, and many new questions. On a sometimes daily basis I'm faced with the dilemma of want versus need. I think we can all agree that there are certain needs that are universal, these being food, shelter, and clothing. Do I really need to buy a new pair of jeans when the few pairs I have are perfectly wearable? Will a new cell phone really improve my life in any way? Most of the time I decide that many things which I used to never question are no longer needs for me. Then I thought about the idea of wanting and needing things in a deeper sense. Often I hear people say things like they know they need to eat better, but yet they still haven't applied themselves to do it. Then I realized that in today's world we have a reversal of these mindsets taking place. For example, I know that I need to exercise to stay healthy and physically fit. Yet I do it on a daily basis because I truly want to. I now feel like wanting something is more important than needing it when we are trying to reach goals. For our paleolithic ancestors it was much easier to live on a needs basis. They truly needed to hunt and gather food on a daily basis. They needed to cover their bodies in a way to keep warm. They needed to find shelter to avoid the elements. If they didn't do all these things death was very likely to occur at some point. With modern convenience and everything necessary for life so easily in our grasp we've lost sight of the importance of these needs. It's not even something that most people have to think about in today's world. Wants have overtaken the needs in most decisions we are faced with. So what do we do? I recommend that you take a look at your goals and figure out how to reach them. When you know the route toward whatever the goal is, then start wanting to implement them. I think you'll find that the mind will easily make changes when you are concentrating on what you want. If your goal is to go to the gym and do something physical at least three times a week, then say to yourself "I want to go to the gym." Repeat the phrase over and over visualizing yourself at the gym and how you will feel and look when you have reached your goal. Do this until you are so excited about the idea that you can help, but run down the gym and make it happen. WANT whatever your goal is so bad, that anything less will not satisfy you. When you do that I contend that mind and body will have no choice but to follow. Comments or thoughts?