Microsatisfaction: Big goals replacing by small joys

The widespread economic crisis, which has prevailed since 2025 and the new financial reality that comes with it, has turned the big goals of middle-class people into an unattainable dream.

Owning a house in a good part of town, driving a safe car, or vacationing for a few weeks anywhere is now a distant memory for most of us, not only financially but also psychologically.

The song of the impossible

I’m sure, you know firsthand that the goals that were once more attainable for middle-class people have now become a kind of song of the impossible.

Constantly and exponentially rising real estate prices, automobiles whose prices have skyrocketed with new taxes, even the daily fluctuations in the prices of essential goods, fluctuating exchange rates, artificially created crises, and the resulting worsening economic conditions are all driving the development of new solutions and the allocation of resources to the most essential.

If you were to surround ten middle-class people in an open space and ask them about their goals for the next ten years, you’d likely find that not a single person in this group has saved money for ten years to become a homeowner.

Unfortunately, this has become accepted and therefore normalized.

This is where being happy with what’s small comes into play; micro-satisfaction is a kind of defense mechanism that emerges when people spend money on things they can access.

What is microsatisfaction?

I’ve previously mentioned dopamine in Attention economy article at past. It’s a hormone that provides short-term pleasure and it also plays a big role in micro-satisfaction.

For example, you want to buy a new cell phone, but the latest model is too expensive, so you buy a new case for your existing phone instead.

If buying a house in your favorite neighborhood has become a dream, buying a new coffee machine and ten box of coffee capsules for the kitchen of your current home feels like a victory.

Even if you can’t build your dream home from the balcony, sharing a photo of a stylish ambiance accompanied by a drink on your social media is starting to become enough.

Who knows, maybe we need to study dopamine more thoroughly and read more research on its effects on human life.

Getting back to the topic…

It seems psychologically more logical to find satisfaction in “smaller things” than in taking the necessary actions to achieve a larger dream.

Achieving big goals requires time and patience; time is full of uncertainty and risk, which, in short, means more stress.

While achieving a big goal requires a period of waiting, small goals can be achieved right now. This is partly why we as humans gravitate towards micro-satisfactions.

You’ve probably wanted something you wanted quickly, instantly, and seamlessly. It’s all about controlling that desire and being patient.

What is the relationship between “microsatisfaction” and consumer culture?

I think there’s another professional group that understands the concept of microsatisfaction better than those who study psychology and sociology directly: marketing communications professionals and advertisers.

For the segment of society desperate to afford large, seemingly unattainable, luxury products / services / standards of living in any category in the short term, they’ve created a segment that evokes the unattainable.

The category name is prefixed with a more positive word like attainable which is more likely to redirect perceptions.

Social media is a primary driver of this desire. The lifestyles and perceived opportunities portrayed on existing social media accounts, especially those that produce visual content, drive people to make purchases that make them say, I’m here too regardless of their size.

For example, if you can’t afford a large SUV you really like, opt for a cheaper model that’s similar in appearance but lacks the functionality and usability of the more expensive model.

If you can’t find a wristwatch that you think will look great on you with its shape, size, color and look; buy a product from a brand that is positioned close to that brand but still bears design traces from that watch you like so much.

According to the State of the Consumer Market Survey, conducted between April and May 2025 with 25,998 consumers in 18 markets; consumer spending habits are being shaped by the expectation of instant satisfaction, value, and convenience. Interestingly, the biggest trend is for consumers to save in one category while spending on small luxuries in another.

According to a blog post on Ingenutyhub, 47% of consumers continue to make small, leisurely purchases even during a crisis, while 53% are saving on relatively more expensive categories like clothing. This demonstrates that the pursuit of emotional fulfillment can actually trump financial caution.

Let’s do a little exercise: when you get out of work / school or wherever you are today, stop and look around; but be a little more aware.

The chain coffee shop you always go to, the burger restaurant that puts a few more fries on your menu, the favorite movie / series / music / podcast platform you subscribe to…

None of these tells you to stop, slow down, save, and make the necessary investments to realize your bigger dreams! They simply remind you that life isn’t waiting for you and that you should live in the moment.

Has the future arrived, or if not, where is it?

I might talk about microsatisfiction as if it were a completely bad thing, but in terms of providing momentary happiness, providing pleasant escapes and a temporary and—unfortunately—short-term relief from stress, and helping to form new social bonds or strengthen existing ones, they don’t seem bad.

But the most important thing to remember is that microsatisfactions accustom people to being content with small things. In other words, they tend to distort the culture of accumulation and destroy it entirely.

The human mind is quite complex, and when the mind is accustomed to being satisfied with small things, it can become unnecessary and avoid the effort necessary to achieve a larger goal.

This doesn’t look very good to me personally, looking at it from this perspective today.

This is where the issue really begins.

There are certain breaking points that society has conditioned us to achieve: owning a home, driving a nice car, being around a handsome man or a beautiful woman, living a fulfilling life…

If one or some of these things are unattainable, I begin to question whether there’s any real need to strive for a lofty goal.

Feeling of unattainability represents a critical shift that forces modern people to reexamine their motivations in life.

It seems impossible to completely eliminate microsatifactions from our life today, at least not under the circumstances we live in.

Microsatisfaction is a kind of escape for many people; however, it can be helpful to ask yourself this question: Do I really need this? Will I truly be happy when I buy this product?

It’s certain that the cost of living and economic uncertainty are rising, and because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, we shy away from big dreams; as we move away from our dreams, we choose to place smaller joys at the very center of our lives.

At the core of the matter, the real issue isn’t money or having it, but knowing what truly adds value to you.

Whether you call it microsatisfaction or microluxuries, our lives are now completed with delicious coffee, a fragrant perfume, a sparkling new pair of Santoni’s, or a premium membership and unfortunately, we’re willing to fill our lives with these micro-prefixed things.

Willingly or unwillingly.

Perhaps the problem lies in these ambitious goals themselves; perhaps we should reevaluate the way we live our lives, reassess our priorities and criteria, and focus on living in the moment rather than hoarding.

Who knows, maybe it’s better that way…