We live in a capitalist society. It is a model based on trading services and goods for currency. No matter what you think about it, capitalism has helped our society thrive and make advancements in science, technology, and the physical quality of life.

However, it doesn’t come without flaws. 80% of the world’s wealth is located in the hands of 20% of people. Other than that, most people work at mediocre and unfulfilling jobs, and earn enough money to live comfortably, but not enough to live fully.

Aside from these, there is also a huge problem that is affecting the West the most – consumerism and materialism. People have become less focused on pursuing their dreams and more on hustling in the rat race.

They work on meaningless jobs they hate, buy things they don’t need, so that they can impress people they don’t like.

In this article, I’ll explain why materialism is a killer of happiness, and how you can stop being materialistic with a few simple changes. Let’s begin.

Why Materialism is a Killer of Happiness

I won’t dive deep into materialism’s story, because that’s not what you came here for. What matters is how exactly materialism deprives us of enjoyment and kills us from the inside. The worst damage it deals to us is by taking meaning away from our lives.

1: It Deprives Your Life of Meaning

Imagine an average person’s life. What do they do every day? How do they spend their time and work on their goals?

They wake up at 7 AM, make their bed, brush their teeth, prepare the same breakfast they made yesterday, put on the suit, and head off to work.

They either get to their workplace by car or public transport. In both cases, roads are filled with thousands of other struggling rats like them. Some time later, they arrive at the place, work on monotonous tasks for 8 hours, and head back home, once again, having to deal with traffic.

At home, they watch Netflix for 3 hours, scroll on TikTok, jack off to porn, and go back to sleep. Eat, sleep, work, consume, repeat. Eat, sleep, work, consume, repeat. For 40 years straight, all of it just to buy some fancy car or house, most of which they barely use.

There is no goal to pursue, no Mission to accomplish, no real problems to solve. Is it any wonder why so many of us get stuck in a rut and numb ourselves with bad habits?

The relative abundance of free time and lack of purpose make us lazy, complacent, and turn us into shells of human beings that chase irrelevant things. It’s a great reason to stop being materialistic.

2: It Makes You Chase External Validation

The second reason materialism kills happiness is that it makes us chase external validation. What I mean by this is that we start saving money to buy goods not to enjoy them, but to impress other people like us who don’t care.

By embracing materialistic thinking, one eventually becomes self-centered, worrying about how other people perceive oneself and the goods one acquires.

The truth is: millions of other people think the same way. They’ve been fed ads where people are happy after purchasing goods, and hope they can achieve the same.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be liked by people, since we are social creatures and need community to feel well. However, when this desire becomes your number 1 priority, and you do everything just to impress other people, you lose your identity.

Your fancy things and best qualities you show off to others become a facade you put on to impress others, while the Inner You slowly dies from lack of attention. Over time, you give up on your dreams, accept mediocrity, and continue to try to get others to like you.

Before you read the next section, think about the situation for a moment. Does such an approach to life truly bring happiness? Does it make you feel fulfilled or satisfied? Make your own conclusions, and we can move on.

3: It Makes You a Wage Slave

The next reason materialism is bad for your soul is that it turns you into a wage slave. If you embrace it, you give your life to other people for them to control and manipulate.

The education system has prepared us for this moment since the early years. Through punishments and demanding obedience, it destroys creativity, critical thinking, and teaches children to conform.

Additionally, it tries to make all students the same by encouraging peer pressure and ostracizing those who have different values. In most cases, young people who are different give up and join the herd to feel a sense of safety.

Make no mistake: most schools, colleges, and universities aren’t places where great thinkers, businessmen, and innovators are taught. On the contrary, their true intention is to produce wage slaves who serve giant corporations that pollute the world and promote consumerism.

Doesn’t it make you angry that, because of the school system, you aren’t the great achiever you wanted to be? Not only that, but it has implanted tons of limiting beliefs you need to remove to step on the path of fulfillment.

4: Your Possessions End up Possessing You

The great danger of materialism that stoics and other philosophers have discussed for years is attachment to possessions. When you place too much value on external objects and identify with them, you lose your true identity and peace of mind.

Instead of focusing on doing meaningful work for society and nurturing connections, you spend years of your life on a job you don’t like to buy stuff you don’t need.

Worse than that, you also base your personality around what you consume, instead of what value and characteristics you have as a human being.

A good example is people who constantly talk about cars. I have nothing against cars; in fact, I enjoy them. But there is a line between acknowledging them as great tools for transportation and obsessing over them.

Your cars and other things you’re attached to ultimately end up possessing your mind, time, and energy. If you think that there’s nothing wrong with it, remember this: During your funeral, nobody’s going to remember how big your house was or how cool you dressed up.

People who worship cars, celebrities, fame, and possessions should realize that these are distractions that pull them away from real fulfillment. This fulfillment can only be cultivated by creating, achieving, and helping others. And this is why you need to stop being materialistic.

5: It Wastes Your Most Valuable Resource

Finally, the last and biggest danger of materialism is that it wastes a lot of your time. Unlike money, you can’t earn millions of years to live, and you can’t regain the time you’ve wasted.

If you work hard on things that bring wealth quickly, you can become a multimillionaire after a few years. When it comes to time, though, you can only extend your lifespan by 5-10 years through having a healthy lifestyle.

Money is abundant, time is limited. The rich and happy recognize this, while the masses keep wasting their time on irrelevant things as if they can live forever.

See, you don’t really work 8 hours a day. The time it takes to dress up, get to the workspace, drive back home, undress, and take a shower subtracts an additional 4 hours from your day. Assuming that you sleep 8 hours, you only have 4 hours left to live.

What’s the point of working so hard on a soulless corporate job and purchasing luxury, when you have little time to actually enjoy this luxury? Unless you enjoy your job, there is no point.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in life is thinking that time is abundant. It is not. Think and realize how limited your time on Earth is, and we can move on to practical advice.

How to Stop Being Materialistic

I respect you for recognizing that materialism is a problem and that you should change yourself and your lifestyle. It shows that you have humility and are willing to spend your life on truly valuable things. First, we need to discover what these things are.

1: Find a Life Mission and Commit to it to Stop Being Materialistic

To be happy, every man needs something meaningful to work on. He needs an outlet for creative expression that will help people in one way or another.

If you manage to find your favorite work, you will not only be more productive and enjoy it more, but you will also stop valuing things that don’t matter. And that’s exactly what we need.

I’ve seen countless men quit partying, smoking weed, casual sex, and chasing hedonistic pleasures after discovering their purpose. That’s because purpose elevates your consciousness to a higher spiritual level and helps you recognize what matters and what doesn’t.

Find a masculine purpose, and you’ll shift focus from meaningless pleasure and possessions to real achievement. You will no longer want to waste time on unfulfilling work to get countless items, but focus on work that makes your life as a whole better.

2: Get Rid of Unnecessary Stuff to Stop Being Materialistic

The next step you need to take to be less materialistic is to clean up space in your house. Identify all objects and items that you rarely or never use, like accessories, clothes, furniture, and sell them.

Yes, get rid of them and make more space in your house. To stop being materialistic, do it no matter how you feel about it. This act is meant to help you sever excessive attachment to materialism and create opportunities for better things to come into your life.

An even bigger benefit is that you gain more clarity and peace of mind. The more space and physical freedom of movement you have, the less you experience brain fog and racing thoughts.

If an item has no value, throw it away; if it does, sell it on Amazon. You can do whatever you want with the acquired money, but I recommend that you save it to increase your financial stability.

This is quite a difficult step, so I applaud you if you complete it. After you’ve done some introspection and gotten rid of unnecessary stuff, we can move on to the most important step.

Recommended article: Slow Living Lifestyle: How to Do Less and Live More

3: Start Creating Instead of Consuming

Based on your purpose and who you want to be, switch your daily action from consuming to creating. Try to buy only what’s necessary, and spend more time on developing your creative side.

Start writing, drawing, inventing, and developing a product you can sell later. Do it with quality, and make sure that it solves people’s problems well.

Even if you aren’t planning to monetize your passion, you should still do it frequently. Creation is more fulfilling than basic consumption and pleasure, because it engages the spiritual side of us, and allows us to express ourselves freely.

Spend at least an hour a day working on your craft, and aim to get better at it. Practice, learn from mistakes, gain new knowledge, and improve.

Over time, you’ll distance yourself from mere consumption more and more, while making advancements in what you do. If you keep engaging in your craft, being productive, and striving to be better, you will earn more money, meet like-minded people, and stop being materialistic.

Related article: 30 Masculine Hobbies to Start

4: Practice Gratitude Journaling to Stop Being Materialistic

People often start chasing possessions and embracing consumerism when they feel that what they have is not enough. They feel emptiness, meaninglessness, and try to fill the hole inside with pleasure and luxury items.

If you want to decrease your desires for expensive objects, start a daily gratitude journal. Write down 5-10 things you’re grateful for every morning.

What this practice does to you is that it shifts your focus from what you lack to what you already have. It means that the more you feel grateful, the less you feel the need to chase “happiness” that advertisements promote.

Other than that, research from Harvard shows that feeling gratitude regularly makes you happier, more mindful, elevates your mood, and makes you more productive at work.

There are countless benefits to gratitude, and it’s one of the best ways to make your life better. If that’s the case, why not shift perspective from chasing happiness to being happy?

5: Focus on Fulfilling Basic and Spiritual Needs

Materialism, luxury, and indulgence are great ways to ruin your happiness and contentment. They make you want more, and more, and more, until nothing brings you enjoyment anymore.

I said it before, and I will say it again: pleasure does not equal happiness. It feels good, but it doesn’t make your life better. In fact, frequently overindulging in degeneracy creates existential problems, inactivity, and ultimately, depression.

Humans are spiritual beings, and to live life well, we need to focus on the most important things – self-actualization, relationships, and physical needs.

Provide yourself with good, but not too great, shelter, food, water, and clothing. Be grateful for what you own and what nature gives you. Set goals, work daily to achieve them, celebrate progress along the way, and remember to spend time with close friends.

This way, you’ll combine both contentment and ambition, stop being materialistic, and use the ultimate formula for happiness.

Recommended article: Digital Detox Challenge: How to Fix Your Life in 30 Days

6: Buy Freedom and Experiences, Not Extra Items

If you’re still reading this article, you likely have problems with spending money. You spend them on the wrong things that take away your freedom.

Real wealth isn’t expensive mansions with quintillion rooms, or Lamborghinis (even though they are commonly acknowledged as symbols of wealth). It is an abundance of personal freedom, meaningful connections, and self-actualization.

Media and society have corrupted your perception of wealth. Know that most billionaires aren’t happy, because they are trapped in their businesses and luxury. But you can be happy if you focus on the right things.

If you don’t feel good at your current job, quit it and get a new one. If you know that you won’t be happy as an employee, start working for yourself and monetize your purpose. Save and invest the money you earn, so that you can give yourself time, location, and financial freedom.

Freedom is what most people truly need. The best way to achieve it is to cut attachment to modern lies, identify who you are, what you want, and pursue it relentlessly. A detailed guide to achieving freedom will be made in the future.

Related article: How to Be Happy in Any Situation

Stop Being Materialistic

Many people are materialistic. As Tyler Durden said, they work on jobs they hate, buy shit they don’t need, to impress people they don’t like.

Materialism and instant gratification corrupt your soul, distance you from your true identity, kill your time, and breed stagnation. To stop being materialistic, make these changes in your lifestyle:

• Find out who you are, and why you live;
• Sell unnecessary and useless possessions;
• Start creating instead of consuming;
• Express gratitude through journaling and work;
• Fulfill your basic and spiritual needs;
• Buy freedom and experiences, not luxury.

If you do these things, you will live a better life than 90% of people. If you read the article carefully, you know that the key is to learn more about yourself, find direction, and move towards it daily.

Implement the advice, recognize that your previous lifestyle doesn’t work, stop being materialistic, and make progress. I believe in you, and I wish you luck, reader.

If you liked this article and found it useful, share it on social media and leave a comment below. See you next time.