Desire Without Action Is Just a Lie

I’m a capitalist. I’m not anti-selling. I’m not anti-marketing. I don’t have a problem with people persuading other people to buy things.

But here’s something I’ve been thinking about.

We live in a culture that’s unbelievably good at creating desire. Ads, social media, psychology, branding. People are constantly being told what they should want. Be rich. Be hot. Be impressive. Have an easy life. Be the life of the party. And after a while, people start believing they want those things, even if they’ve never actually chosen them.

And to be clear, I don’t think everyone needs to want the same life.

If you don’t want to be rich, that’s fine. Truly. If you want a simple life, a modest house, a normal job, and you’re genuinely content, I respect that.

If you don’t want six-pack abs and you just want to feel decent in your clothes and enjoy food without going crazy, cool.

The problem isn’t what you want.

The problem is saying you want something and putting zero effort behind it.

At some point, there has to be a reckoning.

Either admit to yourself that you don’t really want the thing, or accept that wanting something actually requires effort. Because real desire always shows up as action. Always. It might be messy. It might be imperfect. It might be slow. But it moves.

Don’t tell me you want to be wealthy if you’re not willing to do what that actually requires.Don’t tell me you want to be in great shape if there’s no effort in your life that points in that direction.

Because if I can’t look at your life and see some evidence of effort, then it’s not a motivation problem. It’s a honesty problem.

And that’s the worst kind of lie.

Not lying to other people.

Lying to yourself.