Oh, the irony. You’ll happily drop a couple hundred bucks on the latest sneakers, fork out for another night of overpriced cocktails, or max out your card on that “must-have” handbag. Still, when it comes to spending on education, you’re counting pennies like you’re about to live off instant noodles for a month. How dare we invest in something that doesn’t have a logo plastered on it? Who needs knowledge when you can have a new pair of shoes to show off on Instagram, right? Welcome to the age where designer labels define success, and actual self-improvement is… too much work.

Instant Gratification > Education

Its simple materialism gives us a quick, visible, and satisfying boost, something education just can’t match. Buying something new comes with instant rewards. You get that immediate rush of satisfaction when you swipe your card and walk out with something shiny. In a world that thrives on instant gratification, that burst of dopamine is addictive. You feel like you’re treating yourself, showing the world you’ve “made it,” and flaunting your success in easily recognizable ways. It’s an external validation that you can see, touch, and show off.

Education, on the other hand, is a slow burn. It doesn’t come with instant recognition or that “wow” factor that a brand-new car or outfit delivers. Learning requires an investment of time, effort, and patience, and the rewards aren’t immediate. Sure, you might become a more skilled, knowledgeable person over time, but you won’t get a round of applause every time you finish a chapter or take an online course. The results of investing in education aren’t as glamorous. You can’t snap a selfie with your new skills and expect a flood of likes.

How This Mindset is Eating Up Society and Your Child’s Psychological Development

The obsession with materialism and the constant prioritization of luxury over education is quietly eating away at the very fabric of society, and it’s especially damaging to the mindset of future generations. When we, as adults, continuously chase after shiny objects and treat luxury as the ultimate marker of success, we’re not just undermining our own growth but also setting a dangerous precedent for our children.

Psychologically, this reinforces the idea that external validation, what others see and admire, is more important than internal growth. It teaches them to place their worth in their possessions rather than their potential. Instead of fostering a mindset of long-term self-improvement, we’re creating a culture of instant gratification, where the search for fleeting satisfaction trumps the effort required to build something lasting. This leads to a lack of patience, resilience, and a deep-seated fear of delayed rewards, which are all essential for true personal development.

But the psychological impact goes even deeper. When kids are constantly exposed to the idea that success is defined by what you own, they can struggle with self-worth, comparison, and identity. They begin to measure themselves by what they can buy rather than what they know. This constant comparison to their peers’ material wealth can breed feelings of inadequacy, especially when they don’t have access to the same luxuries. The pressure to “keep up” leads to stress, anxiety, and the need for external validation, leaving little room for introspection or self-discovery.

In the long run, this materialistic mindset becomes ingrained, and children may carry it into adulthood, constantly seeking the next external marker of success, only to feel empty when the excitement fades. Without a strong foundation in the value of education and self-improvement, they risk falling into the trap of living for temporary highs, never learning the true value of investing in themselves—mentally, emotionally, and intellectually. The result is a generation that is increasingly detached from personal growth and increasingly focused on the superficial.

Why People Hesitate to Invest in Education

The problem with quick wins is that they operate within a cycle of short-term satisfaction, providing immediate pleasure but ultimately failing to create lasting value. This satisfaction is fleeting because it’s grounded in external factors that don’t lead to sustained personal growth. In contrast, the value of education is intrinsically long-term; it’s something that deepens and compounds over time. Knowledge, skills, and understanding develop incrementally and build upon each other, leading to growth that is both durable and transformative.

However, this process of accumulation requires consistency, effort, and time, which is precisely why many avoid it. The discomfort of delayed gratification—the willingness to invest now and wait for results—is often too difficult to endure. Our psychological wiring, deeply influenced by immediate rewards, creates a mental block when it comes to long-term investments like education. The internal struggle of choosing effort over ease, or waiting for future benefits over enjoying immediate rewards, is a significant barrier to engaging with educational pursuits.

This hesitation isn’t just about physical effort; it’s a deeper cognitive and emotional challenge: the discomfort of putting in work without a clear, immediate payoff. Thus, the opportunity for profound personal growth often remains untapped as people gravitate toward experiences that offer instant returns, ignoring the long-term benefits of knowledge accumulation and self-investment.

What if we started treating education as the ultimate status symbol? Would you be willing to invest in your growth, or will you keep falling for the allure of short-term satisfaction?

Imagine a world where the first question at a gathering wasn’t “What do you do?” but rather, “What have you learned lately?” Education, in this scenario, would no longer be a secondary pursuit—it would be the most prestigious thing to flaunt. The true measure of success would shift from what you own to what you know, what you’ve invested your mind and time into, and how that knowledge has enriched not just your own life but the lives of those around you.

If we made education the ultimate status symbol, the narrative would change. The pursuit of knowledge would be as common, if not more, than the pursuit of wealth or material possessions. People would proudly share their learning experiences as a badge of honor. Whether it’s a new skill, a course completed, or a book that shifted their perspective. And here’s the kicker: This shift would challenge our current systems of validation. We might start to question the obsession with what we own and, instead, celebrate the depth of what we’ve cultivated inside.

But here’s the truth: it’s hard to make this shift. It requires us to step away from the immediate gratification that social media and consumerism so eagerly feed us. So, the real question is: Are you willing to invest in your growth? Will you challenge yourself to put in the hard work, even when the rewards are unseen, and turn education into something truly worth showing off? Or will you continue to chase fleeting satisfaction, knowing that material possessions will never offer the same depth, meaning, or long-lasting fulfillment that knowledge can provide? The choice is yours—but ask yourself, what kind of status symbol do you want to be remembered for?