It is sometimes tricky to tell the difference between wants and needs and this can differ between individuals. But generally speaking, there are two levels of needs:
- Living necessities, which are things you must have in order to live properly, e.g. food, water, housing, electricity.
- Asset necessities, which are things you must have these in order to earn money accordingly, e.g. cars for freelance drivers, cameras and computers for photographers, internet connection for anyone who works online
Things get complicated when you have to decide whether, for example, you as a photographer need the latest smartphone.
If you ‘create’ the need for the latest smartphone, of course, you’ll find a reason why you “need” the latest smartphone.
As a photographer myself, I can invent numerous reasons why I need the latest smartphone. It can be “I need to be able to quickly update my company’s social media page immediately.” Or “I need to be able to respond to my clients or potential clients quickly.”
But when we look closer, the latest smartphones and the 5-year-old smartphones (which I’m currently using) do not show any significant differences when it comes to updating social media or responding to clients quickly. Both types of device can perform the necessary jobs well. Except that the latest smartphones, not only looking fancier and cleaner but also faster as it has more RAM in it.
Which brings you to the important question to decide if it’s a need or a want: Will your fancy and fast device affect your performance as a photographer?
So to summarise, the basic question you should answer to distinguish between needs and wants is:
“how will a certain item affect your work and day to day life?”
and also be aware that you don’t just ‘invent’ reasons to need something.
