Take a note, give a note: Bevy Smith talks about the notion of re-analyzing your feelings when you see that someone has something that you want. She mentions that you should do a few things: Ask yourself if you really want it, ask yourself if it's the time for you to have this right now, ask yourself if someone else is more suited for it than you, and ask yourself if this is the right time for you to have it right now (I added a few of my own examples to her statements). Write about a time when you saw someone who had something that you wanted (this can be anything from a physical product, to a relationship, to a career, personality characteristics, lifestyle, etc.). How did you handle the situation then, and how would you have handled it differently now? Answer must incorporate of the following levinsons theory , reciprocal determinsm