We Don’t Consume Because We Want More — But Because We Feel Less

Special March 2026. Read on website/ Reading time 7 min.

This was never just a book.

March 25th, Emotional Capital for the Triple Win received a Silver Award in the Independent Thought Leadership category from the Axiom Business Book Awards — an annual programme established in 2007 by the Jenkins Group that recognises influential voices shaping how we understand business and society across more than 20 categories, spanning leadership, innovation, and marketing, across both traditional and independent publishing.

When I applied, it was with a quiet sense of entering a much larger conversation. In 2025, Sir Paul Collier received a Silver Award in the Economics category for his work on regions left behind by economic development. As the Blavatnik School of Government wrote, “This recognition marks another milestone in a career dedicated to bridging economics with ethical and practical policymaking.”

That perspective resonates deeply, that economics is never only about systems. So does business. It is about people. About the realities we live through, the pressures we carry, and the choices we make within them.

And perhaps that is why this moment feels so difficult to put into words.

Because this was never just a book.

For the better part of several years in a row, I carried a question that felt too big to ignore.

Yet, it was not easy to prove.

I spent countless sleepless nights trying to give a voice to something I felt deeply but struggled to articulate.

In a world full of noise — of opinions about what is right, what is wrong, what is urgent, what is not — I kept seeing something else.

I saw us.

I saw people, perfectly intertwined with systems and yet, in many ways, quietly harming ourselves.

It felt like watching something grow fast and still look healthy, but without deep enough roots to hold it in place during the first meaningful storm.

On one side, I saw economies and businesses stimulating demand to levels of material consumption that are simply no longer possible for this planet to sustain.

On the other, I saw people — good, aware, well-intentioned people — who still could not bridge the gap between what they believe and how they live.

And I kept asking: why?

The answer that emerged during my research was uncomfortable, but deeply human.

We are tired. We are stressed. We are trying to live up to ideals and statuses that were never meant to reflect who we are.

Every day, we carry this quiet pain — seeking relief as lonely, disconnected hearts, searching for something, anything, to fill the void.

To feel better, even if we know it is short-term. Not because we are careless, but because for many, consumption has become a coping mechanism. Empirical research consistently shows that a substantial share of purchases is driven by impulse: estimates range from 40–80% in certain contexts (Rodrigues et al., 2021), 27–80% of general purchases (Khan et al., 2015), 30–50% of self-reported purchases (Ah Fook & McNeill, 2020), up to 62% in grocery settings (Cobb & Hoyer, 1986), and as much as 68% in online consumption (Wang et al., 2022a).

When I realized that up to 90 percent of our purchases could have been made impulsively, I knew we needed to have this conversation differently.

Not with judgment, but with truth.

This idea is not new. Thinkers, from the Club of Rome to pioneers like Herman Daly, have long warned us about overconsumption.

But we never fully asked: why do we, as people, hold on to it so tightly?

My book is an attempt to bring together years of research and hundreds of academic voices to look deeper. To understand not only the system, but ourselves.

Because the climate crisis — however one defines its reasons — is no longer abstract. I feel it here in Cyprus: in the heat, in the water scarcity, in the growing tension over resources. Material wealth is finite if we cannot regenerate it. There is no business on a dead planet.

And yet, I also feel something else:

We have enough. We can move through this.

But only if we begin a new kind of dialogue — one about the emotional consumption gap.

About separating psychological needs from material consumption. About redefining value — not as what we own, but as how we live, connect, and care.

Imagine an economy built not on extraction, but on emotional capital — the resource every human already carries within.

Imagine businesses that address loneliness, mental health, and meaning — not through products we endlessly buy, but through solutions that truly support us.

This award means that this conversation is finally leaving the cage. It is beginning to be heard more widely — across disciplines, across borders.

It means each voice from more than 300 citations in this work, which we intentionally left there with my brilliant partner, Practical Inspiration Publishing, is now part of a broader dialogue. This idea is no longer mine alone. Most importantly, it means I was right to listen to that restless feeling that kept me awake.

This book is academic. It is complex. But our problems are complex.

And complexity deserves honesty.

This award means more than recognition. It signals that this conversation is gaining traction — and that it resonates beyond a single voice.

Thank you to the Axiom Book Awards for seeing this work. And to those willing to engage with it — critically, openly, and thoughtfully.

We are not what we have. We are what we feel, what we give, and how we connect.

Perhaps this is where meaningful change begins.

CUSTODIANS OF EXISTENCE: Serving others reveals our greatest strengths

(An excerpt from the book)

“What personal values do we convey through our leaders and business owners as a society and culture?

Most business and management educational programs, including leadership courses, focus on effectiveness at the individual level. As a result, we cultivate a growing number of self-aware, self-reliant, and self-confident people. However, creating conditions where people can thrive is a real alternative. The notion of being the smartest and most confident person in the room does not seem enough, giving a stage to leaders who could sense others better and help them to realize their potential.

According to Daniel Goleman, the game’s rules had already been changed at the beginning of this century. In his book “Working with Emotional Intelligence,” he wrote that we are no longer solely judged by our intelligence, training, and expertise but also by how well we navigate our emotions and relationships. From today’s perspective, we may say that our success is directly related to how well we deal with people first. We no longer act as parts of the business machine but thrive in relationships within socio-ecological ecosystems. Attributes such as initiative, empathy, adaptability, and persuasiveness emerge as skills illuminating our path to deeper connections and understanding. All of them are based on emotional and not intellectual or self-confidence skills, forming a new leadership demand.

While individual development is meaningful, we discover our greatest strengths when we open up and serve others. When we focus on the well-being of others, we become less prone to doubting our abilities as we pursue a goal greater than ourselves.

In such cases, we act out of necessity rather than self-doubt, often achieving the impossible. We have navigated economic crises and pandemics, and despite unmet basic needs, our shared experiences highlight the essence of humanity.

These challenges remind us that our evolving personal needs can transform into a commitment to social development by choice. Pro-social behavior, empathy, teamwork, mental health, and community well-being have become integral to our daily lives. New values are necessary for fostering social orientation. These cannot be adequately expressed through outdated concepts like collectivism and individualism, which often redistribute power to dominant individuals or closed tribal groups. As a higher goal, social orientation involves individuals and groups connecting with and empowering others.”

That’s all for today.

We’ll talk again next month.

If these words were helpful to you, please share your thoughts with Emotional Capital Newsletter readers: we are happy to hear from you!

Find me on LinkedIn or website. Send me professional inquiries at Kirkus ProConnect. Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

1. Emotional Capital Newsletter promotes freedom from buying urges and overconsumption, advocating for global emotional health as a foundation for a post-growth economy.
2. Emotional Capital for the Triple Win: 50 Innovative Ways to Lead the Consumption Revolution book reveals 50 business ways to transform consumer behavior for a triple win: benefiting people, the planet, and universal prosperity.
3. The Gift of Sensitivity Book saves you precious time by summarizing 8 years of research & personal journey for extraordinary faculties such as creativity, originality, innovation, intuition, flexibility, and inclusiveness in times of technological acceleration.