Why You Want Things You’ll Regret Buying

You’ve done it a hundred times: spotted a new gadget or a sale on your favorite shoes, clicked “buy,” and felt a rush of excitement. You imagine unboxing it, flaunting it, loving it forever. Yet when the package arrives, that thrill fades after the first glance. You settle for less satisfaction than you promised yourself. One afternoon, fed up with this merry-go-round, you started tracking your cravings in a notebook. Each urge got two ratings: how much you wanted it and how much you enjoyed it later. To your surprise, the enjoyment score was always half the desire score. It was a pattern: wanting outpaced liking, dopamine overshadowing endorphins. Then you noticed something else: the moments you craved most were when you were feeling anxious or bored. When you sat with that feeling for a few minutes instead of hitting “buy,” it passed. Science calls this wanting vs. liking—two separate circuits in your brain. Wanting is driven by anticipation; liking is driven by experience. Together, they explain why sometimes the best thing you can do is ride out the craving and let your H&N system catch up.

You’ve spotted the pattern: dopamine keeps you craving, endorphins keep you enjoying. Next time an urge hits, jot down your expectation, then let time pass and track how much you really liked it. Notice the gap. And when that craving flares, pause to check in with your mood—stress and boredom are dopamine triggers, too. By separating wanting from liking, you’ll save money, prevent regrets, and learn to savor what you already have.