• Scarcity forces us to choose.
• We have unlimited wants, but limited resources.
• Goods are considered scarce if people are willing to give up something to attain them.
• We make rational choices from our own perspective, which depends on our personal value system.
• We sometimes claim we can not or need not make a choice. But in refusing to choose, we allow someone or something else to make the choice for us. We still reap the benefits or pay the consequences, but we have taken choice out of our own hands.
• Making choices empowers us. This changes our focus from “world happening to” to “I am an ‘actor’ who makes things happen because of my actions.”
• Material, behavioral, or moral factors, or some combination of all three drive our choices.
• To carefully consider choices, we need to distinguish between needs and wants. You need clothing. You want a $1000 suit.
• Not all wants are equally desirable, and you should establish some sort of hierarchy of wants according to the benefit you derive from them.
• If you have a goal in mind, align your choices with your goals.
• The freedom to choose does not guarantee any particular outcome. If we are free to succeed, we also are free to fail.

15 Minute lessons that can help illustrate this concept:

Spacial Scarcity
Sweet Choices