New sneakers feel like enough for about a week. Contentment lasts longer and costs less.

Nothing is wrong with liking new shoes. The trouble is the quiet promise attached to them, that this one thing will settle something in you, when the settled feeling lasts about a week and then wants a replacement. Contentment is not going without. It is the part that does not expire when the newness does.

Watch what happens seven days after you get something you wanted. That gap between buying and fading is worth studying, because it repeats for the rest of your life. Before the next purchase, wait a week and see whether you still want the thing or you wanted the feeling.