Working definition
Want vs need separates outcomes you desire (often visible, often pleasurable) from the lever you require this quarter for runway, legitimacy, or independence — only the need should own daily 90-90-1 focus until evidence says otherwise.
How it works
At quarter open, you can state a want with mood and still hide the need. Want sounds like two group sessions per week; need sounds like a revenue lever I can train daily. When the how-spiral starts — salaried search, logistics, Thursday still foggy — stop the how-spiral and return to the three-month lens.
Forced A/B choices surface truth: Option A (guaranteed pleasing outcome) versus Option B (guaranteed independence lever). The body often answers before the story catches up.
Want stays in line of sight as consequence; need owns measurement — hourly sincerity: what moved the need in the last hour? (Write nothing when true.)
Pair with Transfer of Certainty: evidence language for wants; need language for what must progress this week.
Failure modes
- Want owns the calendar — pleasing outcomes fill 90-90-1 while the revenue or legitimacy lever waits.
- Need without want in sight — grind with no line-of-sight consequence; motivation collapses mid-quarter.
- How-spiral disguise — logistics lists feel like need work but never name the lever (Stops the how-spiral).
Example
You write Q3 goals Sunday: two group sessions per week sits at the top in bold. Monday’s first block goes to polishing a CV folder for a salaried parallel hunt — true, but not the independence lever. The want (group rooms, visible coach life) is owning the page; the need (client revenue you can train daily) stays unnamed until Friday guilt arrives. That is B2 miss-steer — the internal boss let pleasing motion displace the runway lever.
Signature
The image is two lines on paper — want (pleasurable, visible) versus need (runway lever); only the need owns tomorrow’s first block.
Yann on 2026-07-01 at Q3 open: what do I want versus what do I need today — Martine’s group dream stays, but the salaried parallel reveals the need underneath until the client lever lands.
Want stays in line of sight; need owns measurement. Your move: Your move this week.
Your move this week
Two lines on paper — want for Q3 · need for Q3 — circle which one owns tomorrow’s first focus block.