A decision made to impress someone should be named before it becomes a lifestyle.

Choices made for an audience compound. One purchase, one job taken because of how it would sound, and a level gets set that then has to be maintained. By the time the cost becomes obvious it has quietly become the ordinary shape of your life, and the original motive is long out of view.

Ask of one recent large decision who you pictured hearing about it. If a face appears immediately, say so to yourself before the next payment is due. Naming it early costs nothing at all.