“Want vs. need” is another in my lifelong compiling of what I lovingly refer to as “word swaps.”

I love word swaps. They are simple and easy to use and make a difference the first time you try them out. In fact, on this beawesome365 website and podcast, I probably have a dozen of them at this point. My favorite of all time is a lesson a young girl taught me about excitement versus nervousness. I think this is one that everyone should teach their kids.

This one is “want vs. need” and how to use it in several different ways. It’s not a unique thing. Almost every parent will use this one way or another while raising kids.

“You don’t need to eat. You’re not starving; you want to eat because you’re a little bit hungry.”

“You don’t need a new pair of shoes. You want a new pair of shoes. “

That’s typically how it is used, and I’m sure you have used it this way in your life. If not, do so. It’s beneficial when trying to create a new diet and healthy routine. “I want to go home and sleep, but I probably need to get a decent workout and eat better.”

Today Monica was talking to me about one of the classes that she is taking at the University. The professor spoke to her about handling people with disabilities, and he brought up a unique way of dealing with the want vs. need scenario.

His example was when asking somebody about help. The professor used a story of a special-needs person working hard to walk up a hill at a college. Other students coming up behind him could tell he was struggling. The initial thought was to ask this person if they needed help. But the students were nervous about offending him. The idea was- if the person was working hard to rehabilitate an injury and had to relearn walking. Just by Word swapping, “Do you want any help?” You take the potential irritation and annoyance.

Monica showed me how that would work in my office. She is my therapy assistant. If I say to her, “I want your help with this next hour.” It would smooth things over much easier than saying, “I need you to do this.” It simply sets a different tone and politeness of how we relate to each other.

I’m going to cut this one short. I could add another 2 to 3 minutes of things for you to read, but I think it’s more the style of “word swaps” to lay the foundation out there and leave it up to you guys to figure out what to do with it.

Play with “Want vs. need” in your life!