Imagine this: On a treadmill, you’re running fast after a dangling carrot. Running faster, you pump your arms, knowing this time you will grab it. But that darn carrot stays just out of reach, regardless of speed. Hello, folks! Welcome to the hedonic treadmill.
Psychologists have been perplexed about our unusual capacity to recover to our happiness baseline, no matter what life throws our way since the 1970s. Hit the lottery? For a bit you will be over the moon. Get fired from your employment. You will find yourself temporarily depressed. We seem to be all running on this strange happiness hamster wheel, never really getting anywhere new.
But don’t worry, my dear reader! Even if evolution is to blame for our inability to totally escape this treadmill, we can still make an effort to enjoy the ride. Here are some odd stops on your road to enduring happiness:
1. Time: The Ultimate Currency of Happiness
Try “quiet quitting” your way to have more free time rather than running after that promotion. Your friend’s and your future self will appreciate it.
2. Variance: The Spice of a Contented Life
Put the 10,000-hour rule out of your mind and learn to do everything. You are a salsa dancer today. Tomorrow, ukulele virtuoso!
3. Let Your Inner Novice Shine
Recall when you found it impossible to color inside the guidelines? Channel that free will and try something different just for fun.
4. When it comes to goals, the journey is more important than the destination
Sort that bucket list and concentrate on objectives that will satisfy you now, not just once they are reached.
5. Become a “Deinfluencer”
Before buying that must-have gadget, go hug a tree. Actually, it could simply save your happiness and your wallet.
6. Is There Any Danger From Strangers? More in line with Stranger Delight!
Talk to that person seated next to you on the bus. Who knows? You might simply make both of your days better.
Happiness is more like a choose-your-own-adventure book; it is not a destination. Turn those pages, then make some unanticipated decisions and savor the journey. After all, on their wheels even hamsters seem to have fun!