People overvalue possessions in many ways. To understand this, we must first understand what it means to overvalue something. We must also understand what value means. The value you give something is equal to what you are willing to give up for it. So, you overvalue something if what you are willing to sacrifice for that thing exceeds the benefit you get from it. For example, if you are willing to give up $10 for a $5 bill, you have overvalued the $5 bill.
All useful possessions are tools. So, a decorative item is a tool for adding beauty to your home. This matters because a tool is only as good as the use you can get out of it. So a tool you don’t use is as good as garbage. If you value the tool more than this, you are overvaluing it. So, expecting a possession to do more than it can do is one way to end up overvaluing it. With that in mind, here are some ways people overvalue things:
Expecting things to bring social validation
Many people buy things for social validation. They often do this by chasing fashion trends or buying status symbols. In each case, they willingly pay for more than what they can get from the product. For example, many will buy a car that cost three times as much as a more reliable car. But instead of receiving social validation, they end up looking insecure. Many people also waste money on the latest fashion trends only to look silly a short time later. In either case, these possessions do not deliver what the owners were willing to pay for.
Holding on to things they don’t like or use
If you don’t like or use something, you get no benefit from it. This means that any resource you sacrifice to keep it is wasted. For example, clothes you won’t wear are a waste of closet space. So, people who keep things they don’t want or use think these things are worth the space that is wasted to keep them. This is valuing these things more than they are worth.
Using paid storage
Paid storage often turns possessions into liabilities. So, keeping a picture in paid storage means paying money to not look at it. No picture is worth that. In many cases, people don’t use these possessions or even remember owning them. Also, it often costs more per year to store the few useful items than to buy them. Continually paying to keep unused possessions is grossly overvaluing them.
Expecting their things to motivate them
Many people expect their possessions to be self-improvement motivators. They sometimes expect a treadmill or an undersized garment to motivate them to get into shape. But these things are not personal trainers or life coaches. Besides, motivation comes from within the person. So these items go unused and become clutter. In fact, a treadmill you don’t use stops being exercise equipment. If people don’t have motivation, their possessions won’t provide it for them. To expect otherwise is to overvalue these possessions.
Expecting things to bring happiness
This problem has plagued many shopaholics. They see a new gadget or garment and think that owning it will make them happy. But they realize it doesn’t happen soon after they buy these things. This should be no surprise because possessions are just tools. Expecting happiness from them is like expecting happiness from hammers and wrenches. Happiness comes from activities, experiences, and gratitude. These are more than tools can give.
Hoarding
Hoarding is one of the worst ways to overvalue possessions. It is the most extreme example of clinging to useless things. Seeing every unusable item as beautiful overlooks the huge mess that piles of them make in the home. Hoarding destroys the quality of a home and can jeopardize safety. It can even destroy relationships. No piles of newspapers or empty soup cans are worth sacrificing a person’s quality of life. Yet many hoarders would rather give up their quality of life than their useless garbage. Overvaluing possessions at this level is a terrible way to live.
In summary, people overvalue possessions in many ways. They are willing to give up more for their possessions than the benefit they get from them. Here are some of the ways that people overvalue possessions:
Expecting things to bring social validation
Holding on to things they don’t like or use
Using paid storage
Expecting their things to motivate them
Expecting things to bring happiness
Hoarding
In all of these cases, people are sacrificing more than they ever get from their possessions.